diff --git a/themes/githelpers.theme.bash b/themes/githelpers.theme.bash
index e6bda810..66279faf 100644
--- a/themes/githelpers.theme.bash
+++ b/themes/githelpers.theme.bash
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ function _git-hide-status {
 
 function _git-status {
   [[ "${SCM_GIT_IGNORE_UNTRACKED}" = "true" ]] && local git_status_flags='-uno'
-  git status --porcelain ${git_status_flags} 2> /dev/null
+  git status --porcelain ${git_status_flags:-} 2> /dev/null
 }
 
 function _git-status-counts {