diff --git a/.github/scripts/release_pr.sh b/.github/scripts/release_pr.sh
index f5abec9c..86b0104f 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/release_pr.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/release_pr.sh
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ SHA=$(gh api /repos/solarwinds/apm-python/contents/solarwinds_apm/version.py?ref
 echo "Pushing new version.py to branch '$branch_name'"
 gh api --method PUT /repos/solarwinds/apm-python/contents/solarwinds_apm/version.py \
     --field message="Update agent version to $version_number" \
-    --field content="__version__ = '$version_number'" \
+    --field content="__version__%20=%20'$version_number'" \
     --field branch="$branch_name" \
     --field sha="$SHA"