use Env;
my $HELM_CONFIGURATION_DIR = $ENV{"HELM_CONFIGURATION_DIR"};
-my $DEFAULT_HELM_CONFIGURATION_DIR = @HELM_ETC_DIR@;
+my $DEFAULT_HELM_CONFIGURATION_DIR = "@HELM_ETC_DIR@";
# this should be the only fixed constant
if (defined ($HELM_CONFIGURATION_DIR) {
$configuration_file = $HELM_CONFIGURATION_DIR."/configuration.xml";