diff --git a/roles/pfsense_upgrade/tasks/update_check.yml b/roles/pfsense_upgrade/tasks/update_check.yml
index 17374e6..8457ab9 100644
--- a/roles/pfsense_upgrade/tasks/update_check.yml
+++ b/roles/pfsense_upgrade/tasks/update_check.yml
@@ -43,9 +43,7 @@
     # pfSense-upgrade typically prints: "pfSense-upgrade: New version available: 2.7.3-RELEASE"
     upgrade_available_version: >-
       {{
-        _upgrade_check.stdout
-        | regex_search('(\d+\.\d+\.\d+[-a-zA-Z0-9]*)', '\1')
-        | first | default('unknown')
+        (_upgrade_check.stdout | regex_search('(\d+\.\d+\.\d+[-a-zA-Z0-9]*)', '\1') or ['unknown']) | first
       }}
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------