diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 0965dcd20b4..eb0da993a17 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ PHP                                                                        NEWS
 - Core:
   . Fixed bug #74780 (parse_url() borken when query string contains colon). 
     (jhdxr)
+  . Fixed bug #74761 (Unary operator expected error on some systems). (petk)
 
 - SPL:
   . Fixed bug #73471 (PHP freezes with AppendIterator). (jhdxr)
diff --git a/acinclude.m4 b/acinclude.m4
index 51b397f8eb1..151722d951c 100644
--- a/acinclude.m4
+++ b/acinclude.m4
@@ -2687,7 +2687,7 @@ EOF
   done
 
   echo "'[$]0' \\" >> $1
-  if test `expr -- [$]0 : "'.*"` = 0; then
+  if test `expr " [$]0" : " '.*"` = 0; then
     CONFIGURE_COMMAND="$CONFIGURE_COMMAND '[$]0'"
   else 
     CONFIGURE_COMMAND="$CONFIGURE_COMMAND [$]0"