diff --git a/mquote b/mquote
index 1a68f50..440a3ef 100755
--- a/mquote
+++ b/mquote
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 # mquote MSG - format MSG as a quotation
 
-: ${from=$(mhdr -d -h x-original-from "$1")}
-: ${from=$(mhdr -d -h from "$1")}
-: ${from=Someone}
+: ${from:=$(mhdr -d -h x-original-from "$1")}
+: ${from:=$(mhdr -d -h from "$1")}
+: ${from:=Someone}
 
 echo "$from wrote:"
 mshow -R "$1" |