diff --git a/Jenkinsfile b/Jenkinsfile
index 40f80db..60c0920 100644
--- a/Jenkinsfile
+++ b/Jenkinsfile
@@ -25,23 +25,29 @@ pipeline {
                     }
 
                     env.VERSION = sh(
-                        script: """
+                        script: '''
                             set -e
-                            VERSION=\\\$(sed -n 's/^version=//p' ${versionFile})
+                            VERSION=$(sed -n 's/^version=//p' "$VERSION_FILE")
 
-                            if [[ ! "\\\$VERSION" =~ ^[0-9]+(\\\\.[0-9]+)*(-[A-Za-z]+)?$ ]]; then
-                                echo "Invalid version format: \\\$VERSION" >&2
+                            if [[ ! "$VERSION" =~ ^[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)*(-[A-Za-z]+)?$ ]]; then
+                                echo "Invalid version format: $VERSION" >&2
                                 exit 1
                             fi
 
-                            echo "\\\$VERSION"
-                        """,
-                        returnStdout: true
+                            echo "$VERSION"
+                        ''',
+                        returnStdout: true,
+                        env: [
+                            "VERSION_FILE=${versionFile}"
+                        ]
                     ).trim()
+
+                    echo "Extracted VERSION: ${env.VERSION}"
                 }
             }
         }
 
+
         stage('Make gradlew executable') {
             steps {
                 sh 'chmod +x ./gradlew'