diff --git a/nf_core/pipeline-template/.github/workflows/download_pipeline.yml b/nf_core/pipeline-template/.github/workflows/download_pipeline.yml
index 08fc30c936..ba6ea3f517 100644
--- a/nf_core/pipeline-template/.github/workflows/download_pipeline.yml
+++ b/nf_core/pipeline-template/.github/workflows/download_pipeline.yml
@@ -47,13 +47,13 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           echo "REPO_LOWERCASE=${GITHUB_REPOSITORY,,}" >> ${GITHUB_ENV}
           echo "REPOTITLE_LOWERCASE=$(basename ${GITHUB_REPOSITORY,,})" >> ${GITHUB_ENV}
-          echo "REPO_BRANCH=${{ github.event.inputs.testbranch || 'dev' }}" >> ${GITHUB_ENV}
+          echo "{% raw %}REPO_BRANCH=${{ github.event.inputs.testbranch || 'dev' }}" >> ${GITHUB_ENV}
 
       - name: Download the pipeline
         env:
           NXF_SINGULARITY_CACHEDIR: ./
         run: |
-          nf-core download {% raw %} ${{ env.REPO_LOWERCASE }} \
+          nf-core download ${{ env.REPO_LOWERCASE }} \
           --revision ${{ env.REPO_BRANCH }} \
           --outdir ./${{ env.REPOTITLE_LOWERCASE }} \
           --compress "none" \