diff --git a/files/ansible-playbooks/sot-updater-upgradecmd.yml b/files/ansible-playbooks/sot-updater-upgradecmd.yml
index e8ac095..8194dc4 100644
--- a/files/ansible-playbooks/sot-updater-upgradecmd.yml
+++ b/files/ansible-playbooks/sot-updater-upgradecmd.yml
@@ -101,22 +101,29 @@
           - "upgrade_cmd line (exact): {{ nb_upgrade_line | default('<not found>') }}"
           - "found? {{ (nb_upgrade_line | length) > 0 }}"
 
-    - name: "NB preflight | Parse value after '=' (split once)"
+    - name: "NB preflight | Parse value after '=' via awk"
       when: nb_upgrade_line | length > 0
       delegate_to: localhost
-      vars:
-        parts: "{{ nb_upgrade_line.split('=', 1) }}"
-      set_fact:
-        nb_upgrade_cmd: "{{ (parts | length > 1) | ternary(parts[1] | trim, '') }}"
-        nb_upgrade_cmd_len: "{{ nb_upgrade_cmd | length }}"
+      shell: |
+        printf '%s\n' "{{ nb_upgrade_line }}" | awk -F'=' '{print $2}' | sed 's/^[[:space:]]*//; s/[[:space:]]*$//'
+      args:
+        executable: /bin/bash
+      register: up_cmd_sh
+      changed_when: false
 
-    - name: "NB preflight | Debug parsed upgrade_cmd (should be just the value)"
+    - name: "NB preflight | Set and show parsed upgrade_cmd"
+      when: nb_upgrade_line | length > 0
+      delegate_to: localhost
+      set_fact:
+        nb_upgrade_cmd: "{{ up_cmd_sh.stdout | default('') | trim }}"
+
+    - name: "NB preflight | Debug parsed upgrade_cmd"
       when: nb_upgrade_line | length > 0
       delegate_to: localhost
       debug:
         msg:
           - "upgrade_cmd value: '{{ nb_upgrade_cmd }}'"
-          - "len={{ nb_upgrade_cmd_len }}"
+          - "len={{ nb_upgrade_cmd | length }}"
 
     - name: "NB preflight | STOP here (temporary)"
       meta: end_play