diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 8ff138b..7aa852a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ jobs:
         version_with_v=$(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)
         VERSION=$(echo ${version_with_v} | cut -f2 -dv)
         sed -i "s/#define CRT_VERSION .*/#define CRT_VERSION \"$VERSION\"/g" ext/crt.c
-        echo "VERSION="${VERSION}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        echo "VERSION=\"${VERSION}\"" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
         python3 dev-scripts/prepare_pecl_release.py --name aws-crt --user aws-crt --email aws-sdk-common-runtime@amazon.com --version ${VERSION}
 
     - name: Upload artifacts