diff --git a/pkg/apis/minio.min.io/v2/helper.go b/pkg/apis/minio.min.io/v2/helper.go
index 0055884f9ee..eba88bff2d3 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/minio.min.io/v2/helper.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/minio.min.io/v2/helper.go
@@ -1021,21 +1021,21 @@ func parsEnvEntry(envEntry string) (envKV, error) {
 			Skip: true,
 		}, nil
 	}
+	if strings.HasPrefix(envEntry, "#") {
+		// Skip commented lines
+		return envKV{
+			Skip: true,
+		}, nil
+	}
 	const envSeparator = "="
 	envTokens := strings.SplitN(strings.TrimSpace(strings.TrimPrefix(envEntry, "export")), envSeparator, 2)
 	if len(envTokens) != 2 {
 		return envKV{}, fmt.Errorf("envEntry malformed; %s, expected to be of form 'KEY=value'", envEntry)
 	}
+
 	key := envTokens[0]
 	val := envTokens[1]
 
-	if strings.HasPrefix(key, "#") {
-		// Skip commented lines
-		return envKV{
-			Skip: true,
-		}, nil
-	}
-
 	// Remove quotes from the value if found
 	if len(val) >= 2 {
 		quote := val[0]
@@ -1043,6 +1043,7 @@ func parsEnvEntry(envEntry string) (envKV, error) {
 			val = val[1 : len(val)-1]
 		}
 	}
+
 	return envKV{
 		Key:   key,
 		Value: val,