diff --git a/scripts/install-buildtools b/scripts/install-buildtools
index a34474ea846ef23b20b69cd505d09ad35cf3e056..4f85fe87d44b43ab573f58e1038726f60b01c8d9 100755
--- a/scripts/install-buildtools
+++ b/scripts/install-buildtools
@@ -102,6 +102,16 @@ def sha256_file(filename):
     import hashlib
     return _hasher(hashlib.sha256(), filename)
 
+def remove_quotes(var):
+    """
+    If a variable starts and ends with double quotes, remove them.
+    Assumption: if a variable starts with double quotes, it must also
+    end with them.
+    """
+    if var[0] == '"':
+        var = var[1:-1]
+    return var
+
 
 def main():
     global DEFAULT_INSTALL_DIR
@@ -273,7 +283,7 @@ def main():
         os.chmod(tmpbuildtools, st.st_mode | stat.S_IEXEC)
         logger.debug(os.stat(tmpbuildtools))
         if args.directory:
-            install_dir = args.directory
+            install_dir = os.path.abspath(args.directory)
             ret = subprocess.call("%s -d %s -y" %
                                   (tmpbuildtools, install_dir), shell=True)
         else:
@@ -294,7 +304,7 @@ def main():
                 if match:
                     env_var = match.group('env_var')
                     logger.debug("env_var: %s" % env_var)
-                    env_val = match.group('env_val')
+                    env_val = remove_quotes(match.group('env_val'))
                     logger.debug("env_val: %s" % env_val)
                     os.environ[env_var] = env_val