diff --git a/.github/workflows/version-check.yml b/.github/workflows/version-check.yml
index ae59544f94ed..0405fd47f940 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/version-check.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/version-check.yml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Verify linked version matches core version
         id: version-check
-        run: ./script/ci/version_check.sh ${{ github.event.pull_request.body }}
+        run: ./script/ci/version_check.sh "${{ github.event.pull_request.body }}"
 
       - name: Add comment if versions differ
         if: steps.version-check.outputs.version_mismatch == 'true'
diff --git a/script/ci/version_check.sh b/script/ci/version_check.sh
index 39558a4984fd..29eaeb3ffe6e 100755
--- a/script/ci/version_check.sh
+++ b/script/ci/version_check.sh
@@ -31,10 +31,10 @@ set -e
 
 # script/ci/version_check
 
-PR_BODY="$1"
+PR_BODY="$@"
 
 # Extract URL from PR description
-WP_URL=$(echo "${PR_BODY}" | grep -oE 'https://community.openproject.org/(wp|work_packages|projects/[^/]+/work_packages)/[0-9]+')
+WP_URL=$(echo "$PR_BODY" | grep -oE 'https://community.openproject.org/(wp|work_packages|projects/[^/]+/work_packages)/[0-9]+' || true)
 
 if [ -z "$WP_URL" ]; then
   echo "::warning::PR description does not contain a valid URL to an OpenProject ticket."
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ if [ "$HTTP_STATUS" -ne 200 ]; then
   exit 0
 fi
 
-VERSION_FROM_API=$(jq -r '._links.version.title // empty' response.json)
+VERSION_FROM_API=$(jq -r '._links.version.title // "not set"' response.json)
 if [ -z "$VERSION_FROM_API" ]; then
   echo "::warning::Failed to extract version from API response."
   exit 0
@@ -73,11 +73,10 @@ echo "Version from file: $VERSION_FROM_FILE"
 if [[ "$VERSION_FROM_API" != "$VERSION_FROM_FILE" ]]; then
   echo "Version mismatch detected."
 
-
-  echo "version_mismatch=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-  echo "wp_url=${WP_URL}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-  echo "wp_version=${VERSION_FROM_API}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-  echo "core_version=${VERSION_FROM_FILE}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+  echo "version_mismatch=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+  echo "wp_url=${WP_URL}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+  echo "wp_version=${VERSION_FROM_API}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+  echo "core_version=${VERSION_FROM_FILE}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 else
   echo "Version from the work package ${WORK_PACKAGE_ID} matches the version in the version file this PR targets."
 fi