diff --git a/tests/pipeline/test_taxa_specific_assembly.nf.test b/tests/pipeline/test_taxa_specific_assembly.nf.test
index cd25be63..389ddbcd 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 = '\\\$ "\u007B" NCBI_EMAIL "\u007D"'
-                ncbi_key = '\\\$ "\u007B" NCBI_KEY "\u007D"'
+                ncbi_email = "\\\$NCBI_EMAIL"
+                ncbi_key = '\\\$NCBI_KEY'
             }
         }