diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/build-binaries.yml b/.gitea/workflows/build-binaries.yml
index d4d5e4e..4c3c2b8 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/build-binaries.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/build-binaries.yml
@@ -71,16 +71,9 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           test -n "$GITEA_TOKEN"
 
-          release_payload=$(python3 - <<'PY'
-import json, os
-print(json.dumps({
-  'tag_name': os.environ['TAG_NAME'],
-  'name': os.environ['TAG_NAME'],
-  'draft': False,
-  'prerelease': False,
-}))
-PY
-)
+          # Build release payload via env var — avoids heredoc in YAML
+          export TAG_NAME
+          release_payload=$(python3 -c 'import os,json; t=os.environ["TAG_NAME"]; print(json.dumps({"tag_name":t,"name":t,"draft":false,"prerelease":false}))')
 
           release_response=$(curl -fsSL \
             -H "Authorization: token $GITEA_TOKEN" \
@@ -90,23 +83,24 @@ PY
             -d "$release_payload" \
             || true)
 
-          release_id=$(RELEASE_RESPONSE="$release_response" python3 - <<'PY'
-import json, os
-raw = os.environ.get('RELEASE_RESPONSE', '').strip()
-if not raw:
-    print('')
-else:
-    try:
-        print(json.loads(raw).get('id', ''))
-    except Exception:
-        print('')
-PY
-)
+          # Extract release id or fallback to existing
+          export RELEASE_RESPONSE
+          release_id=$(python3 -c '
+          import os, json
+          raw = os.environ.get("RELEASE_RESPONSE", "").strip()
+          if raw:
+              try:
+                  print(json.loads(raw)["id"])
+              except Exception:
+                  pass
+          ')
 
           if [ -z "$release_id" ]; then
             release_id=$(curl -fsSL \
               -H "Authorization: token $GITEA_TOKEN" \
-              "$SERVER_URL/api/v1/repos/$REPO/releases/tags/$TAG_NAME" | python3 -c 'import json,sys; print(json.load(sys.stdin)["id"])')
+              "$SERVER_URL/api/v1/repos/$REPO/releases/tags/$TAG_NAME" \
+              | python3 -c 'import json,sys; print(json.load(sys.stdin)["id"])' \
+              2>/dev/null || true)
           fi
 
           for file in dist/TrulyMEM dist/TrulyMEM.desktop dist/TrulyMEM-linux-amd64.tar.gz dist/TrulyMEM.AppImage; do