diff --git a/tests/pipeline/test_taxa_specific_assembly.nf.test b/tests/pipeline/test_taxa_specific_assembly.nf.test
index dd39e463..01c53070 100644
--- a/tests/pipeline/test_taxa_specific_assembly.nf.test
+++ b/tests/pipeline/test_taxa_specific_assembly.nf.test
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ nextflow_pipeline {
         when {
             params {
                 outdir = "$outputDir"
-                ncbi_email = "\$NCBI_EMAIL"
-                ncbi_key = "\$NCBI_KEY"
+                ncbi_email = '\$ "\u007B" NCBI_EMAIL "\u007D"'
+                ncbi_key = '\$ "\u007B" NCBI_KEY "\u007D"'
             }
         }