diff --git a/scripts/src/hwlab-node/source-workspace.ts b/scripts/src/hwlab-node/source-workspace.ts
index c03b09b7..cc876bc4 100644
--- a/scripts/src/hwlab-node/source-workspace.ts
+++ b/scripts/src/hwlab-node/source-workspace.ts
@@ -363,7 +363,7 @@ function sourceWorkspaceStatusFromFields(fields: Record<string, string>, exitCod
 }
 
 function sourceWorkspaceHostDependenciesStatusScript(hostDependencies: HwlabRuntimeSourceWorkspaceHostDependenciesSpec): string {
-  const checkCommands = hostDependencies.checkCommands.join("\n");
+  const checkCommands = shellLinesText(hostDependencies.checkCommands);
   return [
     "set +e",
     `state_dir=${shellQuote(hostDependencies.stateDir)}`,
@@ -403,7 +403,7 @@ function sourceWorkspaceHostDependenciesSubmitScript(
   sourceWorkspace: HwlabRuntimeSourceWorkspaceSpec,
   hostDependencies: HwlabRuntimeSourceWorkspaceHostDependenciesSpec,
 ): string {
-  const checkCommands = hostDependencies.checkCommands.join("\n");
+  const checkCommands = shellLinesText(hostDependencies.checkCommands);
   const noProxy = spec.networkProfile.proxy.noProxy.join(",");
   const commandSha = createHash("sha256").update(hostDependencies.install.command).digest("hex");
   const requiredCommandsSha = createHash("sha256").update(sourceWorkspace.requiredCommands.join("\n")).digest("hex");
@@ -473,9 +473,9 @@ function sourceWorkspaceHostDependenciesSubmitScript(
 }
 
 function sourceWorkspaceStatusScript(spec: HwlabRuntimeLaneSpec, sourceWorkspace: HwlabRuntimeSourceWorkspaceSpec): string {
-  const requiredCommands = sourceWorkspace.requiredCommands.join("\n");
-  const requiredFiles = sourceWorkspace.requiredFiles.join("\n");
-  const remoteUrls = [spec.gitUrl, spec.gitReadUrl, spec.gitWriteUrl].join("\n");
+  const requiredCommands = shellLinesText(sourceWorkspace.requiredCommands);
+  const requiredFiles = shellLinesText(sourceWorkspace.requiredFiles);
+  const remoteUrls = shellLinesText([spec.gitUrl, spec.gitReadUrl, spec.gitWriteUrl]);
   return [
     "set +e",
     `workspace=${shellQuote(spec.workspace)}`,
@@ -746,8 +746,8 @@ function sourceWorkspaceJobContainerScript(
   controlPlane: ReturnType<typeof hwlabNodeControlPlaneSourceWorkspaceBootstrap>,
   workspaceInContainer: string,
 ): string {
-  const requiredCommands = sourceWorkspace.requiredCommands.join("\n");
-  const requiredFiles = sourceWorkspace.requiredFiles.join("\n");
+  const requiredCommands = shellLinesText(sourceWorkspace.requiredCommands);
+  const requiredFiles = shellLinesText(sourceWorkspace.requiredFiles);
   return [
     "set -eu",
     `workspace=${shellQuote(workspaceInContainer)}`,
@@ -813,6 +813,10 @@ function sourceWorkspaceJobContainerScript(
   ].join("\n");
 }
 
+function shellLinesText(values: readonly string[]): string {
+  return values.length === 0 ? "" : `${values.join("\n")}\n`;
+}
+
 function sourceWorkspaceJobName(spec: HwlabRuntimeLaneSpec): string {
   return `hwlab-${spec.nodeId.toLowerCase()}-${spec.lane}-source-workspace`.slice(0, 63).replace(/-$/u, "");
 }