-metadata_files=($(diff -s -r "$m2repo_dir" "$WORKSPACE/m2repo-backup" \
- | grep 'Files .* and .* are identical' | awk '{print $2}'))
+IFS=" " read -r -a metadata_files <<< "$(diff -s -r "$m2repo_dir" "$WORKSPACE/m2repo-backup" \
+ | grep 'Files .* and .* are identical' \
+ | awk '{print $2}')"