diff --git a/Firmware/MotorControl/protocol.hpp b/Firmware/MotorControl/protocol.hpp
index 29291f32..836ae8ef 100644
--- a/Firmware/MotorControl/protocol.hpp
+++ b/Firmware/MotorControl/protocol.hpp
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@
 #include "crc.hpp"
 
 
-constexpr uint8_t SYNC_BYTE = '$';
+constexpr uint8_t SYNC_BYTE = 0xAA;
 constexpr uint8_t CRC8_INIT = 0x42;
 constexpr uint16_t CRC16_INIT = 0x1337;
 constexpr uint16_t PROTOCOL_VERSION = 1;
diff --git a/tools/odrive/protocol.py b/tools/odrive/protocol.py
index 2453891b..f3460073 100644
--- a/tools/odrive/protocol.py
+++ b/tools/odrive/protocol.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import time
 import struct
 
-SYNC_BYTE = ord('$')
+SYNC_BYTE = 0xAA
 CRC8_INIT = 0x42
 CRC16_INIT = 0x1337
 PROTOCOL_VERSION = 1