diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/scripts/kata-deploy.sh b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/scripts/kata-deploy.sh
index 66e45a539a..70210fedeb 100755
--- a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/scripts/kata-deploy.sh
+++ b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/scripts/kata-deploy.sh
@@ -481,7 +481,7 @@ function snapshotter_handler_mapping_validation_check() {
 			die "The snapshotter must follow the \"shim:snapshotter,shim:snapshotter,...\" format, but at least one snapshotter is empty"
 		fi
 
-		if ! grep -q " $shim " <<< " $shims "; then
+		if ! grep -q " $shim " <<< " $SHIMS "; then
 			die "\"$shim\" is not part of \"$SHIMS\""
 		fi