diff --git a/fpsdk_apps/yaml2shell/yaml2shell.cpp b/fpsdk_apps/yaml2shell/yaml2shell.cpp
index 7dee70b..18419c9 100644
--- a/fpsdk_apps/yaml2shell/yaml2shell.cpp
+++ b/fpsdk_apps/yaml2shell/yaml2shell.cpp
@@ -303,6 +303,11 @@ class YamlToShell
         // - "Escape" single quotes
         StrReplace(val, "'", "'\"'\"'");
 
+        // A YAML only consisting of a single scalar won't have a variable name
+        if (var.empty()) {
+            var = "value";  // like yq
+        }
+
         std::string str = Sprintf("%s='%s'\n", var.c_str(), val.c_str());
         size_ += str.size();
         num_++;