diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index ef4162d8..05e5be7a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ jobs:
         run: "yarn install --frozen-lockfile"
 
       - name: 🎖 Bump package.json version
-        run: "yarn version $VERSION"
+        run: "yarn version --new-version $VERSION"
         env:
           VERSION: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}.0
 
diff --git a/changelogs/internal/newsfragments/1713.misc b/changelogs/internal/newsfragments/1713.misc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c1b999bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/internal/newsfragments/1713.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix npm release script for `@matrix-org/spec`.