diff --git a/.github/workflows/deploy_collab.yml b/.github/workflows/deploy_collab.yml
index c8f5999b0e..e0783d0825 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/deploy_collab.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/deploy_collab.yml
@@ -124,13 +124,13 @@ jobs:
           export ZED_IMAGE_ID="registry.digitalocean.com/zed/collab:${GITHUB_SHA}"
 
           export ZED_SERVICE_NAME=collab
-          export ZED_LOAD_BALANCER_SIZE_UNIT="$ZED_COLLAB_LOAD_BALANCER_SIZE_UNIT"
+          export ZED_LOAD_BALANCER_SIZE_UNIT=$ZED_COLLAB_LOAD_BALANCER_SIZE_UNIT
           envsubst < crates/collab/k8s/collab.template.yml | kubectl apply -f -
           kubectl -n "$ZED_KUBE_NAMESPACE" rollout status deployment/$ZED_SERVICE_NAME --watch
           echo "deployed ${ZED_SERVICE_NAME} to ${ZED_KUBE_NAMESPACE}"
 
           export ZED_SERVICE_NAME=api
-          export ZED_LOAD_BALANCER_SIZE_UNIT="$ZED_API_LOAD_BALANCER_SIZE_UNIT"
+          export ZED_LOAD_BALANCER_SIZE_UNIT=$ZED_API_LOAD_BALANCER_SIZE_UNIT
           envsubst < crates/collab/k8s/collab.template.yml | kubectl apply -f -
           kubectl -n "$ZED_KUBE_NAMESPACE" rollout status deployment/$ZED_SERVICE_NAME --watch
           echo "deployed ${ZED_SERVICE_NAME} to ${ZED_KUBE_NAMESPACE}"
diff --git a/crates/collab/k8s/collab.template.yml b/crates/collab/k8s/collab.template.yml
index 38f09d2194..528479105b 100644
--- a/crates/collab/k8s/collab.template.yml
+++ b/crates/collab/k8s/collab.template.yml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ metadata:
   name: ${ZED_SERVICE_NAME}
   annotations:
     service.beta.kubernetes.io/do-loadbalancer-name: "${ZED_SERVICE_NAME}-${ZED_KUBE_NAMESPACE}"
-    service.beta.kubernetes.io/do-loadbalancer-size-unit: ${ZED_LOAD_BALANCER_SIZE_UNIT}
+    service.beta.kubernetes.io/do-loadbalancer-size-unit: "${ZED_LOAD_BALANCER_SIZE_UNIT}"
     service.beta.kubernetes.io/do-loadbalancer-tls-ports: "443"
     service.beta.kubernetes.io/do-loadbalancer-certificate-id: ${ZED_DO_CERTIFICATE_ID}
     service.beta.kubernetes.io/do-loadbalancer-disable-lets-encrypt-dns-records: "true"