diff --git a/util/update_copyrights b/util/update_copyrights
index b170369055..0ba3949db4 100644
--- a/util/update_copyrights
+++ b/util/update_copyrights
@@ -161,6 +161,7 @@ foreach $file (keys %file_types) {
                 $end_comment = " */\n";
         } elsif ($type =~ /^(SH|PERL|TCL|MAKE|CONF-SH|RNC)$/) {
                 $shell_comment = 1;
+		$prefix = "# ";
         } elsif ($type =~ /^PYTHON$/) {
                 $python_comment = 1;
                 $start_comment = "############################################################################\n";