diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index 418e74a9d8..5bedf2ecb1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -100,8 +100,8 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           # tag the container image we created and push to DockerHub
           tag=$(echo $GITHUB_REF | cut -d/ -f3-)
-          tags=$(tag)
-          tags+=$([[ "$tag" =~ "alpha"|"rc" ]] && echo "latest" || echo "stable")
+          tags=($tag)
+          tags+=($([[ "$tag" =~ "alpha"|"rc" ]] && echo "latest" || echo "stable"))
           for tag in ${tags[@]}; do \
             docker tag katadocker/kata-deploy-ci:${{steps.build-and-push-kata-deploy-ci.outputs.PKG_SHA}} katadocker/kata-deploy:${tag} && \
             docker tag quay.io/kata-containers/kata-deploy-ci:${{steps.build-and-push-kata-deploy-ci.outputs.PKG_SHA}} quay.io/kata-containers/kata-deploy:${tag} && \