diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/utils/ruby.sh b/Library/Homebrew/utils/ruby.sh
index 36ea8d817b..8d70bba5d0 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/utils/ruby.sh
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/utils/ruby.sh
@@ -4,12 +4,9 @@ test_ruby () {
     return 1
   fi
 
-  local ruby_status
-  ruby_status=$("$1" --enable-frozen-string-literal --disable=gems,did_you_mean,rubyopt -rrubygems -e \
-    "puts Gem::Version.new(RUBY_VERSION.to_s.dup).to_s.split('.').first(2) == \
-          Gem::Version.new('$required_ruby_version').to_s.split('.').first(2)" 2>/dev/null)
-
-  test "$ruby_status" = true
+  "$1" --enable-frozen-string-literal --disable=gems,did_you_mean,rubyopt -rrubygems -e \
+    "abort if Gem::Version.new(RUBY_VERSION.to_s.dup).to_s.split('.').first(2) != \
+              Gem::Version.new('$required_ruby_version').to_s.split('.').first(2)" 2>/dev/null
 }
 
 setup-ruby-path() {
@@ -17,7 +14,7 @@ setup-ruby-path() {
   local vendor_ruby_path
   local vendor_ruby_latest_version
   local vendor_ruby_current_version
-  local usable_ruby_version
+  local usable_ruby
   # When bumping check if HOMEBREW_MACOS_SYSTEM_RUBY_NEW_ENOUGH (in brew.sh)
   # also needs to be changed.
   local required_ruby_version="2.6"
@@ -75,13 +72,13 @@ If there's no Homebrew Portable Ruby available for your processor:
 
     if [[ -n "$HOMEBREW_MACOS_SYSTEM_RUBY_NEW_ENOUGH" ]]
     then
-      usable_ruby_version="true"
+      usable_ruby=true
     elif [[ -n "$HOMEBREW_RUBY_PATH" && -z "$HOMEBREW_FORCE_VENDOR_RUBY" ]] && test_ruby "$HOMEBREW_RUBY_PATH"
     then
-      usable_ruby_version=true
+      usable_ruby=true
     fi
 
-    if [[ -z "$HOMEBREW_RUBY_PATH" || -n "$HOMEBREW_FORCE_VENDOR_RUBY" || "$usable_ruby_version" != "true" ]]
+    if [[ -z "$HOMEBREW_RUBY_PATH" || -n "$HOMEBREW_FORCE_VENDOR_RUBY" || -z $usable_ruby ]]
     then
       brew vendor-install ruby
       if [[ ! -x "$vendor_ruby_path" ]]