diff --git a/roles/etcd/templates/deb-etcd.initd.j2 b/roles/etcd/templates/deb-etcd.initd.j2
index 2fb4b76b4..ec3d9373d 100644
--- a/roles/etcd/templates/deb-etcd.initd.j2
+++ b/roles/etcd/templates/deb-etcd.initd.j2
@@ -46,8 +46,8 @@ do_status()
 #
 do_start()
 {
-    start-stop-daemon --background --start --quiet --make-pidfile --pidfile $PID --user $DAEMON_USER --exec $DAEMON \
-        $DAEMON_OPTS \
+    start-stop-daemon --background --start --quiet --make-pidfile --pidfile $PID --user $DAEMON_USER --exec $DAEMON -- \
+        $DAEMON_ARGS \
         || return 2
 }