diff --git a/cleanup_friendica.sh b/cleanup_friendica.sh
index e50ab3f..e23a1ba 100644
--- a/cleanup_friendica.sh
+++ b/cleanup_friendica.sh
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ esac
 . /usr/local/etc/cleanup_friendica.conf
 
 # make a list to be used for grep -E 
-protected=$(echo $protectedusers | sed 's/\"//g' | sed 's/\ /\|/g')
+protected=$(echo $protectedusers | sed 's/\"//g' | sed 's/\ /\\\|/g')
 
 cd ${friendicapath} || exit 0