diff --git a/scripts/deploy-vserver.sh b/scripts/deploy-vserver.sh
index 624c177..0ba0aec 100755
--- a/scripts/deploy-vserver.sh
+++ b/scripts/deploy-vserver.sh
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ scp \
     "$tarball_path" "$REMOTE_HOST:$remote_tarball_path"
 
 echo "Building image and restarting container on $REMOTE_HOST..."
-remote_env_file_escaped="$(printf '%q' "$REMOTE_ENV_FILE")"
+remote_env_file_arg="${REMOTE_ENV_FILE:-__ROLEMASTERDB_EMPTY__}"
 ssh \
     -o ControlPath="$ssh_control_path" \
     "$REMOTE_HOST" bash -s -- \
@@ -121,7 +121,8 @@ ssh \
     "$HOST_BIND_ADDRESS" \
     "$HOST_PORT" \
     "$CONTAINER_PORT" \
-    "$REMOTE_USE_SUDO" <<EOF
+    "$REMOTE_USE_SUDO" \
+    "$remote_env_file_arg" <<'EOF'
 set -euo pipefail
 
 release_id="$1"
@@ -133,7 +134,11 @@ host_bind_address="$6"
 host_port="$7"
 container_port="$8"
 remote_use_sudo="$9"
-remote_env_file=$remote_env_file_escaped
+remote_env_file="${10}"
+
+if [[ "$remote_env_file" == "__ROLEMASTERDB_EMPTY__" ]]; then
+    remote_env_file=""
+fi
 
 release_dir="$remote_app_dir/releases/$release_id"
 tarball_path="$release_dir/release.tar.gz"