diff --git a/.github/workflows/selftest.yml b/.github/workflows/selftest.yml
index 261a198..30d9805 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/selftest.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/selftest.yml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ jobs:
           internal-be-careful-allow-failure: true
       - name: assert expected output
         env:
-          PIP_AUDIT_OUTPUT: "${{ steps.pip-audit.outputs.internal-be-careful-output }}"
+          PIP_AUDIT_OUTPUT: "${{ steps.pip-audit.outputs.summary-output-base64 }}"
         run: |
           grep -E 'pyyaml\s+\|\s+5.1' <<< $(base64 -d <<< "${PIP_AUDIT_OUTPUT}")
 
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ jobs:
           internal-be-careful-allow-failure: true
       - name: assert expected output
         env:
-          PIP_AUDIT_OUTPUT: "${{ steps.pip-audit.outputs.internal-be-careful-output }}"
+          PIP_AUDIT_OUTPUT: "${{ steps.pip-audit.outputs.summary-output-base64 }}"
         run: |
           grep -E 'pyyaml\s+\|\s+5.1' <<< $(base64 -d <<< "${PIP_AUDIT_OUTPUT}")
 
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ jobs:
           internal-be-careful-allow-failure: true
       - name: assert expected output
         env:
-          PIP_AUDIT_OUTPUT: "${{ steps.pip-audit.outputs.internal-be-careful-output }}"
+          PIP_AUDIT_OUTPUT: "${{ steps.pip-audit.outputs.summary-output-base64 }}"
         run: |
           grep -E 'pyyaml\s+\|\s+5.1' <<< $(base64 -d <<< "${PIP_AUDIT_OUTPUT}")
 
@@ -85,9 +85,10 @@ jobs:
           internal-be-careful-allow-failure: true
       - name: assert expected output
         env:
-          PIP_AUDIT_OUTPUT: "${{ steps.pip-audit.outputs.internal-be-careful-output }}"
+          PIP_AUDIT_OUTPUT: "${{ steps.pip-audit.outputs.summary-output-base64 }}"
         run: |
           grep -E 'pyyaml\s+\|\s+5.1' <<< $(base64 -d <<< "${PIP_AUDIT_OUTPUT}")
+
   selftest-pipaudit-fail:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
@@ -103,6 +104,6 @@ jobs:
           internal-be-careful-allow-failure: true
       - name: assert expected output
         env:
-          PIP_AUDIT_OUTPUT: "${{ steps.pip-audit.outputs.internal-be-careful-output }}"
+          PIP_AUDIT_OUTPUT: "${{ steps.pip-audit.outputs.summary-output-base64 }}"
         run: |
           grep 'pip-audit did not return any output' <<< $(base64 -d <<< "${PIP_AUDIT_OUTPUT}")
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ff434ac..8e3fa5a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -192,6 +192,8 @@ The `summary` setting controls whether a GitHub
 [job summary](https://github.blog/2022-05-09-supercharging-github-actions-with-job-summaries/)
 is rendered at the end of the action.
 
+__Note:__ The markdown-formatted summary is base64 wrapped and output to the variable `summary-output-base64` when job summaries are enabled.
+
 Example:
 
 ```yaml
diff --git a/action.yml b/action.yml
index e5b3aec..0551bea 100644
--- a/action.yml
+++ b/action.yml
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ inputs:
     required: false
     default: ""
 outputs:
-  internal-be-careful-output:
+  summary-output-base64:
     description: "the column-formatted output from pip-audit, wrapped as base64"
     value: "${{ steps.pip-audit.outputs.output }}"
 runs:
@@ -72,6 +72,10 @@ runs:
         source "${{ github.action_path }}/setup/venv.bash"
 
         python "${{ github.action_path }}/action.py" "${{ inputs.inputs }}"
+
+        if [[ "${GHA_PIP_AUDIT_SUMMARY}" = "true" ]]; then
+          echo "markdown-summary=$(<${GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY})" >> ${GITHUB_OUTPUT}
+        fi
       env:
         GHA_PIP_AUDIT_SUMMARY: "${{ inputs.summary }}"
         GHA_PIP_AUDIT_NO_DEPS: "${{ inputs.no-deps }}"