diff --git a/ci/gh-util.sh b/ci/gh-util.sh
index d7c9ec52d2..8c609deef9 100755
--- a/ci/gh-util.sh
+++ b/ci/gh-util.sh
@@ -59,7 +59,8 @@ list_issues_for_pr()
 
     [[ -z "${pr}" ]] && die "need PR"
 
-    local commits=$(gh pr view "${pr}" --repo "${repo}" --json commits --jq .commits[].messageBody)
+    local commits
+	commits=$(gh pr view "${pr}" --repo "${repo}" --json commits --jq .commits[].messageBody)
 
     [[ -z "${commits}" ]] && die "cannot determine commits for PR ${pr}"
 
@@ -78,7 +79,8 @@ list_issues_for_pr()
     #
     #     "<git-commit> <git-commit-msg>"
     #
-    local issues=$(echo "${commits}" |\
+    local issues
+	issues=$(echo "${commits}" |\
         grep -v -E "^( |	)" |\
         grep -i -E "fixes:* *(#*[0-9][0-9]*)" |\
         tr ' ' '\n' |\
@@ -105,7 +107,8 @@ list_labels_for_issue()
 
     [[ -z "${issue}" ]] && die "need issue number"
 
-    local labels=$(gh issue view "${issue}" --repo kata-containers/kata-containers --json labels)
+    local labels
+	labels=$(gh issue view "${issue}" --repo kata-containers/kata-containers --json labels)
 
     [[ -z "${labels}" ]] && die "cannot determine labels for issue ${issue}"