diff --git a/base-notebook/hooks/post_push b/base-notebook/hooks/post_push
index d453d940..07c18214 100755
--- a/base-notebook/hooks/post_push
+++ b/base-notebook/hooks/post_push
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ INDEX_FILE="${GIT_SANDBOX}/Home.md"
 
 # Configure git so it can push back to GitHub.
 eval $(ssh-agent -s)
-ssh-add <(echo "$DEPLOY_KEY")
+ssh-add <(base64 -d <(echo "$DEPLOY_KEY"))
 ssh-add -l
 git config --global user.email "jupyter@googlegroups.com"
 git config --global user.name "Jupyter Docker Stacks"