diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish.yml b/.github/workflows/publish.yml
index 1e8386e5..8640083b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish.yml
@@ -28,11 +28,11 @@ jobs:
           releaseRegex="^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$"
           releaseCandidateRegex="^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+rc[0-9]+$"
           notes=$(./scripts/extract_changelog.sh $version)
-          if [ -z $notes ]; then
+          if [ -n "$notes" ]; then
             if [[ ${{ github.ref_name }} =~ $releaseRegex ]]; then
-              gh release create ${{ github.ref_name }} --notes $notes -t ${{ github.ref_name }} --verify-tag
+              gh release create ${{ github.ref_name }} --notes "$notes" -t ${{ github.ref_name }} --verify-tag
             elif [[ ${{ github.ref_name }} =~ $releaseCandidateRegex ]]; then
-              gh release create ${{ github.ref_name }} --notes $notes --prerelease -t ${{ github.ref_name }} --verify-tag
+              gh release create ${{ github.ref_name }} --notes "$notes" --prerelease -t ${{ github.ref_name }} --verify-tag
             fi
           else
             if [[ ${{ github.ref_name }} =~ $releaseRegex ]]; then
@@ -40,4 +40,4 @@ jobs:
             elif [[ ${{ github.ref_name }} =~ $releaseCandidateRegex ]]; then
               gh release create ${{ github.ref_name }} --generate-notes --prerelease -t ${{ github.ref_name }} --verify-tag
             fi
-
+          fi