diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index aaa34fb..5fbb070 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ jobs:
         steps:      
           - name: Start EC2 runner
             id: start-ec2-runner
-            uses: NextChapterSoftware/ec2-action-builder@v1.8
+            uses: NextChapterSoftware/ec2-action-builder@v1.9
             with:
               github_token: ${{ secrets.GH_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN }}
               aws_access_key_id: ${{ secrets.DEPLOY_AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ jobs:
         steps:      
           - name: Start EC2 runner
             id: start-ec2-runner
-            uses: NextChapterSoftware/ec2-action-builder@v1.8
+            uses: NextChapterSoftware/ec2-action-builder@v1.9
             with:
               aws_access_key_id: ${{ secrets.DEPLOY_AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
               aws_secret_access_key: ${{ secrets.DEPLOY_AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ jobs:
           output-credentials: true                 # output the credentials
       - name: Start EC2 runner
         id: start-ec2-runner
-        uses: NextChapterSoftware/ec2-action-builder@v1.8
+        uses: NextChapterSoftware/ec2-action-builder@v1.9
         with:
           github_token: ${{ secrets.GH_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN }}
           aws_access_key_id: ${{ steps.creds.outputs.aws-access-key-id }}         # generated by configure-aws-credentials
diff --git a/action.yaml b/action.yaml
index 4fb92ef..3538c29 100644
--- a/action.yaml
+++ b/action.yaml
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ inputs:
   ec2_instance_tags:
     description: 'List of extra aws resource tags for ec2 instance'
     required: false
-    default: '{}'
+    default: '[]'
   ec2_instance_ttl:
     description: 'Maximum duration an EC2 instance is allowed to live in minute'
     required: false