diff --git a/scripts/git-incremental-deploy.ps1 b/scripts/git-incremental-deploy.ps1
index de5fde4..67c57b5 100644
--- a/scripts/git-incremental-deploy.ps1
+++ b/scripts/git-incremental-deploy.ps1
@@ -1050,7 +1050,7 @@ if [ "$SKIP_DEPLOY" != "1" ]; then
   fi
   ok "Production image revision label matches $COMMIT_SHA"
 
-  PROD_PAYLOAD="$(cat <<'PROD_SCRIPT'
+  IFS= read -r -d '' PROD_PAYLOAD <<'PROD_SCRIPT' || true
 set -Eeuo pipefail
 
 TARGET="$1"
@@ -3669,7 +3669,6 @@ fi
     abort_after_uncertain_switch "Consumed bootstrap handoff permissions could not be secured"
 }
 PROD_SCRIPT
-)"
 
   printf '%s' "$PROD_PAYLOAD" | prod_ssh_script \
     "$TARGET" "$CONTAINER_NAME" "$PORT" "$REGISTRY_COMMIT" "$EXPECTED_IMAGE_ID" "$COMMIT_SHA" \
diff --git a/scripts/git-incremental-deploy.test.mjs b/scripts/git-incremental-deploy.test.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ee68e03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/git-incremental-deploy.test.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict'
+import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { spawnSync } from 'node:child_process'
+import test from 'node:test'
+
+test('generated remote deployment payload is valid bash', () => {
+  const source = readFileSync(new URL('./git-incremental-deploy.ps1', import.meta.url), 'utf8')
+  const match = source.match(/\$remoteTemplate = @'\r?\n([\s\S]*?)\r?\n'@\r?\n\r?\nWrite-Step/)
+  assert.ok(match, 'remote deployment template should be present')
+
+  const payload = match[1].replace(/__[A-Z0-9_]+__/g, "''")
+  const result = spawnSync('bash', ['-n'], {
+    input: payload,
+    encoding: 'utf8',
+  })
+
+  assert.equal(result.status, 0, result.stderr || result.stdout)
+})