diff --git a/bin/release.sh b/bin/release.sh
index 6f544de28..28d2dd9b9 100755
--- a/bin/release.sh
+++ b/bin/release.sh
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ if ! git diff-index --quiet HEAD --; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
-jq '.version = "$VERSION"' package.json|sponge package.json
+jq '.version = "'$VERSION'"' package.json|sponge package.json
 
 TAG=v$VERSION