diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-server/src/main/samples/local/bin/start-sample-cluster.bat b/asterixdb/asterix-server/src/main/samples/local/bin/start-sample-cluster.bat
index 4d10261..db86560 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-server/src/main/samples/local/bin/start-sample-cluster.bat
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-server/src/main/samples/local/bin/start-sample-cluster.bat
@@ -24,7 +24,8 @@
   goto :ERROR
 )
 REM ensure JAVA_HOME has no spaces nor quotes, since appassembler can't handle them
-for %%I in (%JAVA_HOME%) do (
+set JAVA_HOME=%JAVA_HOME:"=%
+for %%I in ("%JAVA_HOME%") do (
   set JAVA_HOME=%%~sI
 )
 
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-server/src/main/samples/local/bin/stop-sample-cluster.bat b/asterixdb/asterix-server/src/main/samples/local/bin/stop-sample-cluster.bat
index dfd1ada..d1f31b0 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-server/src/main/samples/local/bin/stop-sample-cluster.bat
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-server/src/main/samples/local/bin/stop-sample-cluster.bat
@@ -24,7 +24,8 @@
 )
 
 REM ensure JAVA_HOME has no spaces nor quotes, since appassembler can't handle them
-for %%I in (%JAVA_HOME%) do (
+set JAVA_HOME=%JAVA_HOME:"=%
+for %%I in ("%JAVA_HOME%") do (
   set JAVA_HOME=%%~sI
 )