diff --git a/.releaserc.json b/.releaserc.json
index 3412efd..21b9632 100644
--- a/.releaserc.json
+++ b/.releaserc.json
@@ -33,19 +33,7 @@
     [
       "@semantic-release/exec",
       {
-        "prepareCmd": "sha256sum build/vault/plugins/vault-plugin-secrets-nats > build/vault/plugins/vault-plugin-secrets-nats.sha256"
-      }
-    ],
-    [
-      "@semantic-release/exec",
-      {
-        "prepareCmd": "sed -i \"s#image: ghcr.io/edgefarm/vault-plugin-secrets-nats/vault-with-nats-secrets:.*#image: ghcr.io/edgefarm/vault-plugin-secrets-nats/vault-with-nats-secrets:${nextRelease.version}#g\" README.md"
-      }
-    ],
-    [
-      "@semantic-release/exec",
-      {
-        "prepareCmd": "export SHA256SUM=$(cat build/vault/plugins/vault-plugin-secrets-nats.sha256) && sed -i \"s#sha256: .*#sha256: ${SHA256SUM}#g\" README.md"
+        "prepareCmd": "sh ./ci/semantic-release-patch-readme.sh ${nextRelease.version}"
       }
     ],
     [
diff --git a/ci/semantic-release-patch-readme.sh b/ci/semantic-release-patch-readme.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..44554ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/semantic-release-patch-readme.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+set -e
+NEXTVERSION=$1
+sha256sum build/vault/plugins/vault-plugin-secrets-nats > build/vault/plugins/vault-plugin-secrets-nats.sha256
+export SHA256SUM=$(cat build/vault/plugins/vault-plugin-secrets-nats.sha256 | cut -d ' ' -f1)
+sed -i "s#sha256: .*#sha256: ${SHA256SUM}#g" README.md
+sed -i "s#image: ghcr.io/edgefarm/vault-plugin-secrets-nats/vault-with-nats-secrets:.*#image: ghcr.io/edgefarm/vault-plugin-secrets-nats/vault-with-nats-secrets:${NEXTVERSION}#g" README.md