diff --git a/bin/sync-aur b/bin/sync-aur
index fb493a8..59af6ca 100755
--- a/bin/sync-aur
+++ b/bin/sync-aur
@@ -246,7 +246,10 @@ apply_pkgrel_override() {
   jq -e 'has("pkgrel")' "$metadata" >/dev/null || return 1
 
   local current_pkgver suffix offset base rel tmpfile
-  current_pkgver=$(grep -m1 '^pkgver=' "$pkgbuild" | cut -d= -f2)
+  # Read through the same accessor that produced previous_pkgver. Parsing it a
+  # second time here let a quoted pkgver= compare unequal to itself, which threw
+  # away the pkgrel metadata of an unchanged package on every sync.
+  current_pkgver=$(get_pkgbuild_field "$package_dir" pkgver)
 
   if [[ -n "$previous_pkgver" && "$current_pkgver" != "$previous_pkgver" ]]; then
     print_info "Removing stale pkgrel metadata for $(display_package_name "$package_dir") (pkgver changed: $previous_pkgver -> $current_pkgver)"