diff --git a/.github/workflows/codeql.yml b/.github/workflows/codeql.yml
index 42445d79d..34c017e2d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/codeql.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/codeql.yml
@@ -99,7 +99,9 @@ jobs:
         tools: ${{ matrix.tools }}
     # confirm steps.init.outputs.codeql-path points to the codeql binary
     - name: Print CodeQL Version
-      run: '${{steps.init.outputs.codeql-path}}' version --format=json
+      run: "$CODEQL" version --format=json
+      env:
+        CODEQL: ${{steps.init.outputs.codeql-path}}
     - name: Perform CodeQL Analysis
       uses: ./analyze
       with: