diff --git a/hp-plugin.in b/hp-plugin.in
index b55f8ac..c6de68a 100644
--- a/hp-plugin.in
+++ b/hp-plugin.in
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ PLUGIN_FILE="hplip-${VER}-plugin.run"
 # the directory can be used by other hplip tools, so we don't have to remove it if the failure happens
 if [ ! -d ~/.hplip ]
 then
-  @bindir@/mkdir ~/.hplip || @bindir@/echo "Cannot create the ~/.hplip dir, exiting" && exit 1
+  @bindir@/mkdir ~/.hplip || (@bindir@/echo "Cannot create the ~/.hplip dir, exiting" && exit 1)
 fi
 
 @bindir@/curl --create-dir -O  --output-dir ~/.hplip ${PLUGIN_SOURCE}