diff --git a/scripts/release-manifest.mjs b/scripts/release-manifest.mjs
index 6dc8286..d2f654c 100755
--- a/scripts/release-manifest.mjs
+++ b/scripts/release-manifest.mjs
@@ -218,8 +218,8 @@ if (command === 'get') {
   }
   let value = manifest
   for (const segment of field.split('.')) value = value?.[segment]
-  if (typeof value === 'object') console.log(JSON.stringify(value))
-  else if (value === null || value === undefined) console.log('')
+  if (value === null || value === undefined) console.log('')
+  else if (typeof value === 'object') console.log(JSON.stringify(value))
   else console.log(String(value))
   process.exit(0)
 }
diff --git a/tests/release/manual-release-test.sh b/tests/release/manual-release-test.sh
index 57df7b6..cde0448 100755
--- a/tests/release/manual-release-test.sh
+++ b/tests/release/manual-release-test.sh
@@ -124,6 +124,20 @@ RELEASE_SMOKE_COMPLETED_AT=2026-07-22T00:00:00Z \
   node "$root/scripts/release-manifest.mjs" create "$manifest" >/dev/null
 node "$root/scripts/release-manifest.mjs" validate "$manifest" >/dev/null
 [[ $(node "$root/scripts/release-manifest.mjs" get "$manifest" images.api) == "$api_image" ]]
+bootstrap_manifest=$tmp/bootstrap.json
+RELEASE_SOURCE_SHA=$source_sha \
+RELEASE_BASE_SHA= \
+RELEASE_COMPONENTS=api \
+RELEASE_MIGRATIONS_CHANGED=true \
+RELEASE_API_IMAGE=$api_image \
+RELEASE_WEB_IMAGE=$web_image \
+RELEASE_BUILD_COMPLETED_AT=2026-07-22T00:00:00Z \
+RELEASE_SMOKE_COMPLETED_AT=2026-07-22T00:00:00Z \
+  node "$root/scripts/release-manifest.mjs" create "$bootstrap_manifest" >/dev/null
+[[ -z $(node "$root/scripts/release-manifest.mjs" get "$bootstrap_manifest" baseReleaseSha) ]] || {
+  echo 'bootstrap manifest returned a non-empty production base' >&2
+  exit 1
+}
 RELEASE_DEPLOYED_AT=2026-07-22T00:01:00Z \
 RELEASE_DEPLOY_DURATION_SECONDS=17 \
 RELEASE_DEPLOY_ACTION=deploy \