diff --git a/bin/build-helper b/bin/build-helper
index 2bd62502..d1f30fc3 100755
--- a/bin/build-helper
+++ b/bin/build-helper
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ eof
 
         # get release ID
         repoid=$(curl "https://api.github.com/repos/ungleich/cdist/releases/tags/${tag}" \
-            || python3 -c 'import json; import sys; print(json.loads(sys.stdin.read())["id"])') \
+            | python3 -c 'import json; import sys; print(json.loads(sys.stdin.read())["id"])') \
             || exit 1
 
         curl -H "Authorization: token ${token}" \
diff --git a/bin/build-helper.freebsd b/bin/build-helper.freebsd
index e1bac8ac..0a656f5e 100755
--- a/bin/build-helper.freebsd
+++ b/bin/build-helper.freebsd
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ eof
 
         # get release ID
         repoid=$(curl "https://api.github.com/repos/ungleich/cdist/releases/tags/${tag}" \
-            || python3 -c 'import json; import sys; print(json.loads(sys.stdin.read())["id"])') \
+            | python3 -c 'import json; import sys; print(json.loads(sys.stdin.read())["id"])') \
             || exit 1
 
         curl -H "Authorization: token ${token}" \