diff --git a/.scripts/build_steps.sh b/.scripts/build_steps.sh
index 595f8b5..438ed2b 100755
--- a/.scripts/build_steps.sh
+++ b/.scripts/build_steps.sh
@@ -31,11 +31,10 @@ pkgs_dirs:
 
 CONDARC
 
-
-mamba install --update-specs --yes --quiet --channel conda-forge \
-    conda-build pip boa conda-forge-ci-setup=3
-mamba update --update-specs --yes --quiet --channel conda-forge \
-    conda-build pip boa conda-forge-ci-setup=3
+mamba install --update-specs --yes --quiet --channel conda-forge --strict-channel-priority \
+    pip mamba conda-build boa conda-forge-ci-setup=3
+mamba update --update-specs --yes --quiet --channel conda-forge --strict-channel-priority \
+    pip mamba conda-build boa conda-forge-ci-setup
 
 # set up the condarc
 setup_conda_rc "${FEEDSTOCK_ROOT}" "${RECIPE_ROOT}" "${CONFIG_FILE}"
diff --git a/.scripts/logging_utils.sh b/.scripts/logging_utils.sh
index 57bc95c..aff009f 100644
--- a/.scripts/logging_utils.sh
+++ b/.scripts/logging_utils.sh
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ function startgroup {
             echo "##[group]$1";;
         travis )
             echo "$1"
-            echo -en 'travis_fold:start:'"${1// /}"'\\r';;
+            echo -en 'travis_fold:start:'"${1// /}"'\r';;
         github_actions )
             echo "::group::$1";;
         * )
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ function endgroup {
         azure )
             echo "##[endgroup]";;
         travis )
-            echo -en 'travis_fold:end:'"${1// /}"'\\r';;
+            echo -en 'travis_fold:end:'"${1// /}"'\r';;
         github_actions )
             echo "::endgroup::";;
     esac