diff --git a/script/release b/script/release
index ea2543b..6a55941 100755
--- a/script/release
+++ b/script/release
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ fi
 # Set so that setup.py will create a public release style version number
 export OCTODNS_RELEASE=1
 
-VERSION="$(grep __VERSION__ "$ROOT/octodns/__init__.py" | sed -e "s/.* = '//" -e "s/'$//")"
+VERSION="$(grep "^__VERSION__" "$ROOT/octodns/__init__.py" | sed -e "s/.* = '//" -e "s/'$//")"
 
 git tag -s "v$VERSION" -m "Release $VERSION"
 git push origin "v$VERSION"