diff --git a/plugins/npm/__tests__/npm.test.ts b/plugins/npm/__tests__/npm.test.ts
index 9fefa7c96..eebb407c2 100644
--- a/plugins/npm/__tests__/npm.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/npm/__tests__/npm.test.ts
@@ -489,7 +489,7 @@ describe("publish", () => {
       Auto.SEMVER.patch,
       "--no-commit-hooks",
       "-m",
-      '"Bump version to: %s [skip ci]"',
+      "Bump version to: %s [skip ci]",
       "--loglevel",
       "silly",
     ]);
@@ -519,7 +519,7 @@ describe("publish", () => {
       Auto.SEMVER.patch,
       "--no-commit-hooks",
       "-m",
-      '"Bump version to: %s [skip ci]"',
+      "Bump version to: %s [skip ci]",
     ]);
   });
 
@@ -554,7 +554,7 @@ describe("publish", () => {
       "--yes",
       "--no-push",
       "-m",
-      '"Bump version to: %s [skip ci]"',
+      '\'"Bump version to: %s [skip ci]"\'',
       false,
     ]);
   });
@@ -590,7 +590,7 @@ describe("publish", () => {
       "--yes",
       "--no-push",
       "-m",
-      '"Bump version to: %s [skip ci]"',
+      '\'"Bump version to: %s [skip ci]"\'',
       false,
     ]);
   });
@@ -626,7 +626,7 @@ describe("publish", () => {
       "--yes",
       "--no-push",
       "-m",
-      '"Bump version to: %s [skip ci]"',
+      '\'"Bump version to: %s [skip ci]"\'',
       "--exact",
     ]);
 
@@ -750,7 +750,7 @@ describe("publish", () => {
       "1.0.1",
       "--no-commit-hooks",
       "-m",
-      '"Bump version to: %s [skip ci]"',
+      "Bump version to: %s [skip ci]",
     ]);
   });
 
@@ -786,7 +786,7 @@ describe("publish", () => {
       "--yes",
       "--no-push",
       "-m",
-      '"Bump version to: %s [skip ci]"',
+      '\'"Bump version to: %s [skip ci]"\'',
       false,
     ]);
   });
diff --git a/plugins/npm/src/index.ts b/plugins/npm/src/index.ts
index 498467a45..5d00685db 100644
--- a/plugins/npm/src/index.ts
+++ b/plugins/npm/src/index.ts
@@ -947,7 +947,7 @@ export default class NPMPlugin implements IPlugin {
             "-m",
             isIndependent
               ? '"Bump independent versions [skip ci]"'
-              : JSON.stringify(VERSION_COMMIT_MESSAGE),
+              : `'"${VERSION_COMMIT_MESSAGE}"'`,
             this.exact && "--exact",
             ...verboseArgs,
           ]);
@@ -969,7 +969,7 @@ export default class NPMPlugin implements IPlugin {
           latestBump,
           "--no-commit-hooks",
           "-m",
-          JSON.stringify(VERSION_COMMIT_MESSAGE),
+          VERSION_COMMIT_MESSAGE,
           ...verboseArgs,
         ]);
         auto.logger.verbose.info("Successfully versioned repo");