diff --git a/scripts/release b/scripts/release
index d8247d7..6eee995 100755
--- a/scripts/release
+++ b/scripts/release
@@ -340,7 +340,13 @@ var exact_publication = len(published_records) === len(records)
 for expected in (records) {
   var match_count = 0
   for published in (published_records) {
-    if (published.value === expected) {
+    var value = published.value
+    var value_tag = get(value, 'tag', {})
+    var value_tag_bytes = get(value_tag, '$bytes', '')
+    if (value_tag_bytes === "$tag_bytes=") {
+      setvar value.tag = {'$bytes': tag_bytes}
+    }
+    if (value === expected) {
       setvar match_count += 1
     }
   }