diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 636d3b72..cc15fe60 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.0.448
+1.0.449
diff --git a/sky130/custom/scripts/check_density.py b/sky130/custom/scripts/check_density.py
index 7e540eb6..3affd972 100755
--- a/sky130/custom/scripts/check_density.py
+++ b/sky130/custom/scripts/check_density.py
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ def usage():
 
         # NOTE:  This assumes that the name of the GDS file is the name of the
         # topmost cell (which should be passed as an option)
-        print('load ' + gdsroot)
+        print('load ' + gdsroot, file=ofile)
         print('', file=ofile)
 
         print('set midtime [orig_clock format [orig_clock seconds] -format "%D %T"]', file=ofile)