diff --git a/.config/waybar/config.jsonc b/.config/waybar/config.jsonc
index 7a49f8b..f325e0f 100644
--- a/.config/waybar/config.jsonc
+++ b/.config/waybar/config.jsonc
@@ -86,8 +86,9 @@
 		"interval": 60,
 		"tooltip": true,
 		"format": "{} ",
+		"return-type": "json",
 		"exec": "$HOME/.config/waybar/scripts/check-updates.sh",
-		"exec-if": "[[ `$HOME/.config/waybar/scripts/check-updates.sh` != 0 ]]",
+		"exec-if": "[[ `checkupdates | wc -l` != 0 ]]",
 		"signal": 1
 	},
 	"custom/recorder": {
diff --git a/.config/waybar/scripts/check-updates.sh b/.config/waybar/scripts/check-updates.sh
index c514bef..d8b0a35 100755
--- a/.config/waybar/scripts/check-updates.sh
+++ b/.config/waybar/scripts/check-updates.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,14 @@
-#! /usr/bin/env bash
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
 
 main() {
-  checkupdates | wc -l
+  updates=$(checkupdates --nocolor 2>/dev/null)
+  if [[ $? -ne 0 || -z "$updates" ]]; then
+    echo '{"text": "", "tooltip": ""}' | jq --unbuffered --compact-output
+  else
+    numberOfUpdates=$(echo "$updates" | wc -l)
+    tooltip=$(echo "$updates" | sed 's/\n/\r/g' | jq -sR .)
+    echo "{\"text\": \"$numberOfUpdates\", \"tooltip\": $tooltip}" | jq --unbuffered --compact-output
+  fi
 }
 
-main $@
\ No newline at end of file
+main "$@"
\ No newline at end of file