diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/deployment.yml b/.gitea/workflows/deployment.yml
index da169db9..76d80af0 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/deployment.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/deployment.yml
@@ -26,13 +26,18 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           tea login add --name gitea-rinoa --url ${{ secrets.RINOA_GITEA_URL }} --user gitea-sonarqube-bot --password "${{ secrets.BOT_GITEA_PASSWORD }}" --token ${{ secrets.BOT_GITEA_TOKEN }}
           tea login default gitea-rinoa
-          echo "Checking if PR exists for ${{ github.ref_name }}"
-          tea pr ls --repo ${{ github.repository }} --state open --fields index,title,head,state --output csv | egrep -q '${{ github.ref_name }}' 
-          if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
+
+          echo "Checking if PR exists for branch: ${{ github.ref_name }}"
+          PR_EXISTS=$(tea pr ls --repo "${{ github.repository }}" --state open --fields index,title,head,state --output csv | grep -c "${{ github.ref_name }}")
+
+          if [ "$PR_EXISTS" -ge 1 ]; then
               echo "PR exists, skipping creation..."
-          elif [ $? -eq 1 ]; then
+          elif [ "$PR_EXISTS" -eq 0 ]; then
               echo "PR does not exist, creating PR..."
               tea pr c -r "${{ github.repository }}" -t "Automated PR for ${{ github.ref_name }}" -d "Automated PR for ${{ github.ref_name }}"
+          else
+              echo "Error determining PR status. Exiting..."
+              exit 1
           fi
 
   docker-compose-test: