diff --git a/appveyor.yml b/appveyor.yml
index eef3e46c772434b6979225ba67050313ac8800cb..60fb3fcf8f4a4c93edef30b849bb51abcf67e6fb 100644
--- a/appveyor.yml
+++ b/appveyor.yml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ install:
   - cmd: call %PYTHON%
   - cmd: conda config --set always_yes yes --set changeps1 no
   - cmd: conda update -q conda
-  - cmd: conda create -q -n test python=$PYTHON_VERSION
+  - cmd: conda create -q -n test python=%PYTHON_VERSION%
   - cmd: source activate test
   - cmd: conda config --add channels conda-forge
   - cmd: conda install -c conda-forge pvl protobuf gdal numpy pandas sqlalchemy pyyaml networkx affine h5py scipy