diff --git a/deployments/pocket-id/deploy.sh b/deployments/pocket-id/deploy.sh
index 438f2b5..44cd851 100644
--- a/deployments/pocket-id/deploy.sh
+++ b/deployments/pocket-id/deploy.sh
@@ -73,11 +73,11 @@ done
 # Prompt for required vars if not set
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 prompt() {
-    local var="$1" prompt="$2" cur="${!var:-}"
-    if [[ -z "$cur" ]]; then
-        read -r -p "$prompt: " cur
-        [[ -n "$cur" ]] || die "$var required."
-        printf -v "$var" '%s' "$cur"
+    local varname="$1" message="$2"
+    local -n ref="$varname"
+    if [[ -z "${ref:-}" ]]; then
+        read -r -p "$message: " ref
+        [[ -n "$ref" ]] || die "$varname required."
     fi
 }
 prompt POCKETID_DOMAIN "Public hostname (e.g. id.example.com)"