diff --git a/scripts/cleanup-update-branches.sh b/scripts/cleanup-update-branches.sh
index 5f06eaa..4ed3bcb 100755
--- a/scripts/cleanup-update-branches.sh
+++ b/scripts/cleanup-update-branches.sh
@@ -6,12 +6,12 @@ set -e
 
 git branch -l "update-deps-*" --format "%(refname:short)"| while read -r branch ; do 
   echo "Removing local branch: $branch"
-  git branch -D $branch
+  git branch -D "$branch"
 done
 
 git branch -r --format "%(refname:short)" | grep -o 'update-deps-.*' | while read -r branch ; do
   echo "Removing remote branch: $branch"
-  git push origin --delete $branch
+  git push origin --delete "$branch"
 done
 
 
diff --git a/scripts/release.sh b/scripts/release.sh
index 7e8b356..a6de5a4 100755
--- a/scripts/release.sh
+++ b/scripts/release.sh
@@ -4,4 +4,4 @@
 
 set -e
 
-gh release create v$(cat extism/VERSION) --generate-notes
+gh release create v"$(cat extism/VERSION)" --generate-notes
diff --git a/scripts/set-version.sh b/scripts/set-version.sh
index 7fa3e3b..776ef83 100755
--- a/scripts/set-version.sh
+++ b/scripts/set-version.sh
@@ -3,5 +3,5 @@
 # usage: ./scripts/set-version 0.0.0
 
 set -eu
-version=$(echo -n $1 | sed 's/v//g')
-echo -n $version > extism/VERSION
+version=$(echo -n "$1" | sed 's/v//g')
+echo -n "$version" > extism/VERSION
diff --git a/scripts/update-deps.sh b/scripts/update-deps.sh
index f2cc42b..a296735 100755
--- a/scripts/update-deps.sh
+++ b/scripts/update-deps.sh
@@ -5,29 +5,29 @@
 set -eu
 
 BRANCH="update-deps-$(date +%s)"
-git checkout -b $BRANCH
+git checkout -b "$BRANCH"
 go get -u
 go mod tidy
 
 # push to new branch, get HEAD hash
 git commit -am "chore: update cli deps"
-git push origin $BRANCH
+git push origin "$BRANCH"
 GIT_HASH=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
 
 # update extism
 cd extism
 go get -u
-go get -u github.com/extism/cli@$GIT_HASH
+go get -u "github.com/extism/cli@$GIT_HASH"
 
 # update extism-dev
 cd ../extism-dev
 go get -u
-go get -u github.com/extism/cli@$GIT_HASH
+go get -u "github.com/extism/cli@$GIT_HASH"
 go mod tidy
 
 # Create commit and push
 git commit -am "chore: update extism and extism-dev deps"
-push push origin $BRANCH
+push push origin "$BRANCH"
 
 echo "Update complete"
 echo "If gh is installed, a pull-request can be opened with the following command"
diff --git a/scripts/update-extism-cli.sh b/scripts/update-extism-cli.sh
index 7e2ae61..695ee59 100755
--- a/scripts/update-extism-cli.sh
+++ b/scripts/update-extism-cli.sh
@@ -5,12 +5,12 @@
 GIT_HASH=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
 
 # update extism
-cd extism
-go get -u github.com/extism/cli@$GIT_HASH
+cd extism || exit 1
+go get -u "github.com/extism/cli@$GIT_HASH"
 
 # update extism-dev
-cd ../extism-dev
-go get -u github.com/extism/cli@$GIT_HASH
+cd ../extism-dev || exit 1
+go get -u "github.com/extism/cli@$GIT_HASH"
 go mod tidy
 
 # Create commit and push