diff --git a/.config/shell/bin/upd b/.config/shell/bin/upd
index a927d19..439c3b9 100755
--- a/.config/shell/bin/upd
+++ b/.config/shell/bin/upd
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ g() { git -C "$REPO" "$@"; }
 REPO_ABBR='echo ${REPO/"$HOME"/"~"}'
 
 # `git pull` everything mentioned in the REPOS_TO_UPDATE variable
-IFS=: read -ra REPOS_TO_UPDATE_ARR <<< "${REPOS_TO_UPDATE:-}:$DOCS_DIR:$HOME/bin"
+IFS=: read -ra REPOS_TO_UPDATE_ARR <<< "${REPOS_TO_UPDATE:-}:${DOCS_DIR:-}:$HOME/bin"
 for REPO in "${REPOS_TO_UPDATE_ARR[@]}"; do
    if [ -n "$REPO" ]; then
       if g rev-parse > /dev/null 2>&1; then