diff --git a/testsuite/expect/globals_accounting b/testsuite/expect/globals_accounting
index 7fcb35831d1811d3156993628a21899fdebcdb15..999f6e8cd14c11d08ce0f2dce4fa0f76387bf0e6 100644
--- a/testsuite/expect/globals_accounting
+++ b/testsuite/expect/globals_accounting
@@ -339,7 +339,10 @@ proc add_acct { cluster parent name desc org qos fairshare grpcpumin grpcpu grpj
 	}
 
 	if { [string length $qos] } {
-		set command "$command qoslevel=$qos"
+		if { [string compare $qos " "] } {
+			set $qos ""
+		}
+		set command "$command qoslevel='$qos'"
 		set assoc_stuff 1
 	}
 
@@ -586,7 +589,10 @@ proc mod_acct { cluster wparent name wdesc worg qos fairshare grpcpumin grpcpu g
 	}
 
 	if { [string length $qos] } {
-		set scommand "$scommand qoslevel$qos"
+		if { [string compare $qos " "] } {
+			set $qos ""
+		}
+		set scommand "$scommand qoslevel='$qos'"
 		set assoc_stuff 1
 	}
 
@@ -748,7 +754,10 @@ proc add_user { cluster account name part admin dacct dwckey wckey qos fairshare
 	}
 
 	if { [string length $qos] } {
-		set command "$command qoslevel=$qos"
+		if { [string compare $qos " "] } {
+			set $qos ""
+		}
+		set command "$command qoslevel='$qos'"
 	}
 
 	if { [string length $wckey] } {
@@ -1017,7 +1026,10 @@ proc mod_user { cluster account name part wadmin wdacct wdwckey qos fairshare gr
 	}
 
 	if { [string length $qos] } {
-		set scommand "$scommand qoslevel$qos"
+		if { [string compare $qos " "] } {
+			set $qos ""
+		}
+		set scommand "$scommand qoslevel='$qos'"
 		set assoc_stuff 1
 	}
 
diff --git a/testsuite/expect/test21.20 b/testsuite/expect/test21.20
index aeb2c31e440579853a63dab01454e6ea3e3f2237..5aa13512839eda7aaf49c684185f1f2b7942881a 100755
--- a/testsuite/expect/test21.20
+++ b/testsuite/expect/test21.20
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ if {$matches != 27} {
 # cluster account name part wadmin wdacct wdwckey qos fairshare grpcpumin grpcpu grpjob grpnode grpsubmit grpwall maxcpumin maxcpu maxjob maxnode maxsubmit maxwall admin dacct dwckey
 
 #
-incr exit_code [mod_user "$tc1,$tc2,$tc3" "$nm2" $us1 "" "" "" "" "=$qs3" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" ""]
+incr exit_code [mod_user "$tc1,$tc2,$tc3" "$nm2" $us1 "" "" "" "" "$qs3" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" ""]
 if { $exit_code } {
 	remove_user "" "" "$us1,$us2,$us3"
 	remove_acct "" "$nm1,$nm2,$nm3"
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ if {$matches != 21} {
 # account adminlevel cluster defaultaccount qoslevel name
 # qoslevel waccounts wcluster wnames
 #
-incr exit_code [mod_user "$tc1,$tc2,$tc3" "$nm2" $us2 "" "" "" "" "+=$qs3" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" ""]
+incr exit_code [mod_user "$tc1,$tc2,$tc3" "$nm2" $us2 "" "" "" "" "+$qs3" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" ""]
 if { $exit_code } {
 	remove_user "" "" "$us1,$us2,$us3"
 	remove_acct "" "$nm1,$nm2,$nm3"
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ if {$matches != 15} {
 # account adminlevel cluster defaultaccount qoslevel name
 # qoslevel waccounts wcluster wnames
 #
-incr exit_code [mod_user "$tc1,$tc2,$tc3" "$nm2" $us3 "" "" "" "" "-=$qs2" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" ""]
+incr exit_code [mod_user "$tc1,$tc2,$tc3" "$nm2" $us3 "" "" "" "" "-$qs2" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" ""]
 if { $exit_code } {
 	remove_user "" "" "$us1,$us2,$us3"
 	remove_acct "" "$nm1,$nm2,$nm3"