diff --git a/bashopts.sh b/bashopts.sh
index e1046124b535a5eac139e44b731000f26296e829..d8891ed316d744ecd1776afdaf18399087cca280 100644
--- a/bashopts.sh
+++ b/bashopts.sh
@@ -387,9 +387,12 @@ bashopts_math_min() {
 
 # join array element
 bashopts_join_by() {
-    local IFS="$1"
-    shift || bashopts_log C "Usage: bashopts_join_by <character> [elt1 [elt2...]]"
-    echo "$*"
+    local sep="$1"
+    shift || bashopts_log C "Usage: bashopts_join_by <separator> [elt1 [elt2...]]"
+    printf "%s" "$1"
+    test $# -gt 1 || return 0
+    shift
+    printf "$sep%s" "$@"
 }
 
 # dump an option value by its name