diff --git a/roles/base/tasks/system_setup/cron.yml b/roles/base/tasks/system_setup/cron.yml
index e6f514d..59578b9 100644
--- a/roles/base/tasks/system_setup/cron.yml
+++ b/roles/base/tasks/system_setup/cron.yml
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
   become_user: root
   cron:
     name: "generate SSH key on reboot, if missing"
-    job: 'KEYS=(/etc/ssh/ssh_host_*_key); (( ${#KEYS[@]} )) || ( ssh-keygen -A && systemctl restart {{ ssh_service }} )'
+    job: "KEYS=(/etc/ssh/ssh_host_*_key); (( \${#KEYS[@]} )) || ( ssh-keygen -A && systemctl restart {{ ssh_service }} )"
     state: present
     special_time: reboot