diff --git a/scripts/update_ff.py b/scripts/update_ff.py
index ff124e587..15f47c4ec 100644
--- a/scripts/update_ff.py
+++ b/scripts/update_ff.py
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-
 import os
 import json
 
@@ -6,32 +5,26 @@ last_version = "0.0.0"
 new_version = "0.0.0"
 
 def update_ff():
+  """Runs the npm command to update the 'ff' component."""
   os.system("npm run update-ff:raw")
 
-def get_version_before():
-  global last_version
-  with open("surfer.json", "r") as f:
+def get_version_from_file(filename):
+  """Retrieves the version from the specified JSON file."""
+  with open(filename, "r") as f:
     data = json.load(f)
-    last_version = data["version"]["version"]
+    return data["version"]["version"]
 
-def get_version_after():
-  global new_version
-  with open("surfer.json", "r") as f:
-    data = json.load(f)
-    new_version = data["version"]["version"]
-
-def update_readme():
-  global last_version
-  global new_version
+def update_readme(last_version, new_version):
+  """Updates the README.md file to reflect the new version."""
   with open("README.md", "r") as f:
     data = f.read()
-    data = data.replace(last_version, new_version)
+    updated_data = data.replace(last_version, new_version)
+
   with open("README.md", "w") as f:
-    f.write(data)
+    f.write(updated_data)
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
-  get_version_before()
+  last_version = get_version_from_file("surfer.json")
   update_ff()
-  get_version_after()
-  update_readme()
-  print("Updated from version {} to version {}".format(last_version, new_version))    
+  new_version = get_version_from_file("surfer.json")
+  update_readme(last_version, new_version)