diff --git a/publish.py b/publish.py
index 749bd2ed8..1afdd437a 100755
--- a/publish.py
+++ b/publish.py
@@ -26,10 +26,12 @@ docs_dir = os.path.abspath('docs')
 publish_dir = os.path.abspath(os.path.join('..', 'kovidgoyal.github.io', 'kitty'))
 with open('kitty/constants.py') as f:
     raw = f.read()
-nv = re.search(r'^version\s+=\s+Version\((\d+), (\d+), (\d+)\)', raw, flags=re.MULTILINE)
+nv = re.search(r'^version: Version\s+=\s+Version\((\d+), (\d+), (\d+)\)', raw, flags=re.MULTILINE)
 if nv is not None:
     version = '%s.%s.%s' % (nv.group(1), nv.group(2), nv.group(3))
-appname = re.search(r"^appname: str\s+=\s+'([^']+)'", raw, flags=re.MULTILINE).group(1)  # type: ignore
+ap = re.search(r"^appname: str\s+=\s+'([^']+)'", raw, flags=re.MULTILINE)
+if ap is not None:
+    appname = ap.group(1)
 
 ALL_ACTIONS = 'man html build tag sdist upload website'.split()