diff --git a/bundle/config/target.go b/bundle/config/target.go
index a2ef4d7356..4b20fac15b 100644
--- a/bundle/config/target.go
+++ b/bundle/config/target.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package config
 
 import (
 	"github.com/databricks/cli/bundle/config/resources"
-	"github.com/databricks/cli/bundle/config/variable"
 	"github.com/databricks/databricks-sdk-go/service/jobs"
 )
 
@@ -38,7 +37,26 @@ type Target struct {
 	// Override default values or lookup name for defined variables
 	// Does not permit defining new variables or redefining existing ones
 	// in the scope of an target
-	Variables map[string]*variable.Variable `json:"variables,omitempty"`
+	//
+	// There are two valid ways to define a variable override in a target:
+	// 1. Direct value override. We normalize this to the variable.Variable
+	//    struct format when loading the configuration YAML:
+	//
+	//   variables:
+	//     foo: "value"
+	//
+	// 2. Override matching the variable.Variable struct.
+	//
+	//   variables:
+	//     foo:
+	//       default: "value"
+	//
+	// OR
+	//
+	//   variables:
+	//     foo:
+	//       lookup: "resource_name"
+	Variables map[string]any `json:"variables,omitempty"`
 
 	Git Git `json:"git,omitempty"`
 
diff --git a/bundle/generated/jsonschema.json b/bundle/generated/jsonschema.json
index b9edc1e91f..2d6f04f3c9 100644
--- a/bundle/generated/jsonschema.json
+++ b/bundle/generated/jsonschema.json
@@ -987,7 +987,7 @@
                       "$ref": "#/$defs/github.com/databricks/cli/bundle/config.Sync"
                     },
                     "variables": {
-                      "$ref": "#/$defs/map/github.com/databricks/cli/bundle/config/variable.Variable"
+                      "$ref": "#/$defs/map/interface"
                     },
                     "workspace": {
                       "$ref": "#/$defs/github.com/databricks/cli/bundle/config.Workspace"
@@ -5031,6 +5031,20 @@
           }
         }
       },
+      "interface": {
+        "anyOf": [
+          {
+            "type": "object",
+            "additionalProperties": {
+              "$ref": "#/$defs/interface"
+            }
+          },
+          {
+            "type": "string",
+            "pattern": "\\$\\{(var(\\.[a-zA-Z]+([-_]?[a-zA-Z0-9]+)*(\\[[0-9]+\\])*)*(\\[[0-9]+\\])*)\\}"
+          }
+        ]
+      },
       "string": {
         "anyOf": [
           {