diff --git a/src/NGS/an_spliceai.php b/src/NGS/an_spliceai.php
index 67c07ee60..f3683c845 100644
--- a/src/NGS/an_spliceai.php
+++ b/src/NGS/an_spliceai.php
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ function annotate_spliceai_scores($in, $vcf_filtered, $out)
 $splice_env = get_path("splice_env", true);
 exec2("cut -f 2,4,5 -d'\t' {$splice_env}/lib/python3.10/site-packages/spliceai/annotations/".strtolower($build).".txt | sed 's/^/chr/' | sed '1d' > {$spliceai_regions}");
 $tmp2 = $parser->tempFile("_spliceai_filtered_regions.vcf");
-$parser->exec(get_path("ngs-bits")."/VcfFilter", "-reg {$spliceai_regions} -in {$tmp1} -out {$tmp2}", true);
+$parser->exec(get_path("ngs-bits")."/VcfFilter", "-reg {$spliceai_regions} -in {$tmp1} -out {$tmp2} -ref ".genome_fasta($build), true);
 $var_count = vcf_variant_count($tmp2);
 $parser->log("Variants after SpliceAI transcript regions filter: {$var_count}");
 
diff --git a/src/NGS/an_vep.php b/src/NGS/an_vep.php
index 6940a7be7..6e729db0b 100644
--- a/src/NGS/an_vep.php
+++ b/src/NGS/an_vep.php
@@ -61,13 +61,14 @@ function annotation_file_path($rel_path, $is_optional=false)
 $local_data = get_path("local_data");
 $vep_data_path = "{$local_data}/".basename(get_path("vep_data"))."/"; //the data is copied to the local data folder by 'data_setup' to speed up annotations (and prevent hanging annotation jobs)
 $data_folder = get_path("data_folder");
+$genome = genome_fasta($build);
 
 $args = array();
 $args[] = "-i $in --format vcf"; //input
 $args[] = "-o $vep_output --vcf --no_stats --force_overwrite"; //output
 $args[] = "--species homo_sapiens --assembly {$build}"; //species
 $args[] = "--fork {$threads}"; //speed (--buffer_size did not change run time when between 1000 and 20000)
-$args[] = "--offline --cache --dir_cache {$vep_data_path}/ --fasta ".genome_fasta($build); //paths to data
+$args[] = "--offline --cache --dir_cache {$vep_data_path}/ --fasta {$genome}"; //paths to data
 $args[] = "--transcript_version --domains --failed 1"; //annotation options
 $args[] = "--regulatory"; //regulatory features
 $fields[] = "BIOTYPE";
@@ -101,14 +102,14 @@ function annotation_file_path($rel_path, $is_optional=false)
 //add consequences (Ensembl)
 $gff = get_path("data_folder")."/dbs/Ensembl/Homo_sapiens.GRCh38.112.gff3";
 $vcf_output_consequence = $parser->tempFile("_consequence.vcf");
-$parser->exec(get_path("ngs-bits")."/VcfAnnotateConsequence", " -in {$vep_output} -out {$vcf_output_consequence} -threads {$threads} -tag CSQ2 -gff {$gff}", true);
+$parser->exec(get_path("ngs-bits")."/VcfAnnotateConsequence", " -in {$vep_output} -out {$vcf_output_consequence} -threads {$threads} -tag CSQ2 -gff {$gff} -ref {$genome}", true);
 
 //add consequences (RefSeq)
 if($annotate_refseq_consequences)
 {
 	$gff2 = get_path("data_folder")."/dbs/RefSeq/Homo_sapiens.GRCh38.p14.gff3";
 	$vcf_output_refseq = $parser->tempFile("_refseq.vcf");
-	$parser->exec(get_path("ngs-bits")."/VcfAnnotateConsequence", " -in {$vcf_output_consequence} -out {$vcf_output_refseq} -threads {$threads} -tag CSQ_REFSEQ -gff {$gff2} -source refseq", true);
+	$parser->exec(get_path("ngs-bits")."/VcfAnnotateConsequence", " -in {$vcf_output_consequence} -out {$vcf_output_refseq} -threads {$threads} -tag CSQ_REFSEQ -gff {$gff2} -source refseq -ref {$genome}", true);
 	$vcf_output_consequence = $vcf_output_refseq;
 }
 
@@ -118,7 +119,7 @@ function annotation_file_path($rel_path, $is_optional=false)
 
 //add MaxEntScan annotation
 $vcf_output_mes = $parser->tempFile("_mes.vcf");
-$parser->exec(get_path("ngs-bits")."/VcfAnnotateMaxEntScan", "-gff {$gff} -in {$vcf_output_phylop} -out {$vcf_output_mes} -ref ".genome_fasta($build)." -swa -threads {$threads} -min_score 0.0 -decimals 1", true);
+$parser->exec(get_path("ngs-bits")."/VcfAnnotateMaxEntScan", "-gff {$gff} -in {$vcf_output_phylop} -out {$vcf_output_mes} -ref {$genome} -swa -threads {$threads} -min_score 0.0 -decimals 1", true);
 
 // create config file
 $config_file_path = $parser->tempFile(".config");
@@ -327,7 +328,7 @@ function annotation_file_path($rel_path, $is_optional=false)
 //check vcf file
 if($check_lines >= 0)
 {
-	$parser->exec(get_path("ngs-bits")."VcfCheck", "-in $out -lines $check_lines -ref ".genome_fasta($build), true);
+	$parser->exec(get_path("ngs-bits")."VcfCheck", "-in $out -lines $check_lines -ref {$genome}", true);
 }
 
 ?>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/NGS/db_check_gender.php b/src/NGS/db_check_gender.php
index 8966ff144..9dde288b5 100644
--- a/src/NGS/db_check_gender.php
+++ b/src/NGS/db_check_gender.php
@@ -79,7 +79,8 @@
 }
 
 //determine gender from BAM
-list($stdout, $stderr) = $parser->exec(get_path("ngs-bits")."SampleGender", "-in {$in} -method {$method} {$args} -build ".ngsbits_build($build), true);
+$genome = genome_fasta($build);
+list($stdout, $stderr) = $parser->exec(get_path("ngs-bits")."SampleGender", "-in {$in} -method {$method} {$args} -build ".ngsbits_build($build)." -ref {$genome}", true);
 $gender2 = explode("\t", $stdout[1])[1];
 if (starts_with($gender2, "unknown"))
 {
diff --git a/src/NGS/merge_gvcf.php b/src/NGS/merge_gvcf.php
index 0198312c2..4aca56cae 100644
--- a/src/NGS/merge_gvcf.php
+++ b/src/NGS/merge_gvcf.php
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@
 $pipeline[] = array("zcat", $tmp_vcf);
 
 //filter variants according to variant quality>5
-$pipeline[] = array(get_path("ngs-bits")."VcfFilter", "-qual 5");
+$pipeline[] = array(get_path("ngs-bits")."VcfFilter", "-qual 5 -ref $genome");
 
 //split complex variants to primitives
 //this step has to be performed before vcfbreakmulti - otherwise mulitallelic variants that contain both 'hom' and 'het' genotypes fail - see NA12878 amplicon test chr2:215632236-215632276
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@
 $pipeline[] = array(get_path("vcflib")."vcfbreakmulti", "");
 
 //remove invalid variants
-$pipeline[] = array(get_path("ngs-bits")."VcfFilter", "-remove_invalid");
+$pipeline[] = array(get_path("ngs-bits")."VcfFilter", "-remove_invalid -ref $genome");
 
 //normalize all variants and align INDELs to the left
 $pipeline[] = array(get_path("ngs-bits")."VcfLeftNormalize", "-stream -ref $genome");
diff --git a/src/NGS/vc_clair.php b/src/NGS/vc_clair.php
index 483ce75d6..3c3c59aa9 100644
--- a/src/NGS/vc_clair.php
+++ b/src/NGS/vc_clair.php
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@
 $pipeline[] = array("zcat", "{$clair_vcf}");
 
 //filter variants according to variant quality>5
-$pipeline[] = array(get_path("ngs-bits")."VcfFilter", "-qual 5 -remove_invalid");
+$pipeline[] = array(get_path("ngs-bits")."VcfFilter", "-qual 5 -remove_invalid -ref $genome");
 
 //split complex variants to primitives
 //this step has to be performed before vcfbreakmulti - otherwise mulitallelic variants that contain both 'hom' and 'het' genotypes fail - see NA12878 amplicon test chr2:215632236-215632276
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@
 //create/copy gvcf:
 $pipeline = array();
 $pipeline[] = array("zcat", $clair_gvcf);
-$pipeline[] = array(get_path("ngs-bits")."VcfFilter", "-remove_invalid");
+$pipeline[] = array(get_path("ngs-bits")."VcfFilter", "-remove_invalid -ref $genome");
 $pipeline[] = array("bgzip", "-c > {$out_gvcf}");
 $parser->execPipeline($pipeline, "gVCF post processing");
 
diff --git a/src/NGS/vc_clair_trio.php b/src/NGS/vc_clair_trio.php
index 1644c5230..261e3cf2d 100644
--- a/src/NGS/vc_clair_trio.php
+++ b/src/NGS/vc_clair_trio.php
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@
 $pipeline[] = array("zcat", "{$clair_vcf}");
 
 //filter variants according to variant quality>5
-$pipeline[] = array(get_path("ngs-bits")."VcfFilter", "-qual 5 -remove_invalid");
+$pipeline[] = array(get_path("ngs-bits")."VcfFilter", "-qual 5 -remove_invalid -ref $genome");
 
 //split complex variants to primitives
 //this step has to be performed before vcfbreakmulti - otherwise mulitallelic variants that contain both 'hom' and 'het' genotypes fail - see NA12878 amplicon test chr2:215632236-215632276
diff --git a/src/NGS/vc_viral_load.php b/src/NGS/vc_viral_load.php
index 0ccc1a209..624751dda 100644
--- a/src/NGS/vc_viral_load.php
+++ b/src/NGS/vc_viral_load.php
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@
 
     // mismatches
     $region = $fields[0] . ":" . ($fields[1]+1) . "-" .  $fields[2];
-    list($stdout) = $parser->exec(get_path("ngs-bits")."VcfFilter", "-in {$viral_vcf} -reg '{$region}'", false);
+    list($stdout) = $parser->exec(get_path("ngs-bits")."VcfFilter", "-in {$viral_vcf} -reg '{$region}' -ref $genome", false);
     $variant_count = 0;
 	foreach($stdout as $line)
 	{
diff --git a/src/Pipelines/analyze.php b/src/Pipelines/analyze.php
index 1cf60e094..cdc488dc0 100644
--- a/src/Pipelines/analyze.php
+++ b/src/Pipelines/analyze.php
@@ -393,7 +393,7 @@
 				//filter by target region (extended by 200) and quality 5
 				$target = $parser->tempFile("_roi_extended.bed");
 				$parser->exec($ngsbits."BedExtend"," -in ".$sys['target_file']." -n 200 -out $target -fai ".$genome.".fai", true);
-				$pipeline[] = array($ngsbits."VcfFilter", "-reg {$target} -qual 5 -filter_clear");
+				$pipeline[] = array($ngsbits."VcfFilter", "-reg {$target} -qual 5 -filter_clear -ref $genome");
 
 				//split multi-allelic variants
 				$pipeline[] = array(get_path("vcflib")."vcfbreakmulti", "");
@@ -480,7 +480,7 @@
 				$pipeline[] = array("zcat", $dragen_output_vcf);
 				
 				//filter by target region and quality 5
-				$pipeline[] = array($ngsbits."VcfFilter", "-reg chrMT:1-16569 -qual 5 -filter_clear");
+				$pipeline[] = array($ngsbits."VcfFilter", "-reg chrMT:1-16569 -qual 5 -filter_clear -ref $genome");
 
 				//split multi-allelic variants
 				$pipeline[] = array(get_path("vcflib")."vcfbreakmulti", "");
diff --git a/src/Pipelines/somatic_dna.php b/src/Pipelines/somatic_dna.php
index ae51f10ad..48a41f6a8 100644
--- a/src/Pipelines/somatic_dna.php
+++ b/src/Pipelines/somatic_dna.php
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ function($str) { return explode("\t", $str); },
 		}
 		else
 		{
-			$out = $parser->exec(get_path("ngs-bits") . "/SampleGender",  "-in $t_bam -build ".ngsbits_build($sys['build'])." -method sry", true);
+			$out = $parser->exec(get_path("ngs-bits") . "/SampleGender",  "-in $t_bam -build ".ngsbits_build($sys['build'])." -method sry -ref {$ref_genome}", true);
 			list(,,$cov_sry) = explode("\t", $out[0][1]);
 
 			if(is_numeric($cov_sry) && (float)$cov_sry >= 30)
@@ -739,7 +739,7 @@ function($str) { return explode("\t", $str); },
 		{
 			$ngsbits = get_path("ngs-bits");
 			$pipeline = [
-					["{$ngsbits}BedAnnotateGC", "-in ".$sys['target_file']." -clear -ref ".genome_fasta($sys['build'])],
+					["{$ngsbits}BedAnnotateGC", "-in ".$sys['target_file']." -clear -ref {$ref_genome}"],
 					["{$ngsbits}BedAnnotateGenes", "-out {$target_bed}"],
 				];
 			$parser->execPipeline($pipeline, "creating annotated BED file for ClinCNV");
@@ -755,7 +755,7 @@ function($str) { return explode("\t", $str); },
 		{
 			$pipeline = [
 					[get_path("ngs-bits")."BedChunk", "-in ".$sys['target_file']." -n {$bin_size}"],
-					[get_path("ngs-bits")."BedAnnotateGC", "-clear -ref ".genome_fasta($sys['build'])],
+					[get_path("ngs-bits")."BedAnnotateGC", "-clear -ref {$ref_genome}"],
 					[get_path("ngs-bits")."BedAnnotateGenes", "-out {$target_bed}"]
 				];
 			$parser->execPipeline($pipeline, "creating annotated BED file for ClinCNV");
diff --git a/src/Pipelines/trio.php b/src/Pipelines/trio.php
index fb3cfd01f..105bb3fc2 100644
--- a/src/Pipelines/trio.php
+++ b/src/Pipelines/trio.php
@@ -149,6 +149,7 @@ function fix_gsvar_file($gsvar, $sample_c, $sample_f, $sample_m, $gender_data)
 
 //prepare multi-sample paramters
 $sys = load_system($system, $sample_c); //required in case the the system is unset
+$genome = genome_fasta($sys['build']);
 $args_multisample = [
 	"-bams $c $f $m",
 	"-status affected control control",
@@ -286,7 +287,7 @@ function fix_gsvar_file($gsvar, $sample_c, $sample_f, $sample_m, $gender_data)
 	print "Medelian errors: ".number_format(100.0*$vars_mendelian_error/$vars_high_depth, 2)."% (of {$vars_high_depth} high-depth, autosomal variants)\n";
 	
 	//determine gender of child
-	list($stdout, $stderr) = $parser->exec(get_path("ngs-bits")."SampleGender", "-method hetx -in $c -build ".ngsbits_build($sys['build']), true);
+	list($stdout, $stderr) = $parser->exec(get_path("ngs-bits")."SampleGender", "-method hetx -in $c -build ".ngsbits_build($sys['build'])." -ref {$genome}", true);
 	$gender_data = explode("\t", $stdout[1])[1];
 	if ($gender_data!="male" && $gender_data!="female") $gender_data = "n/a";
 	print "Gender of child (from data): {$gender_data}\n";
@@ -336,7 +337,7 @@ function fix_gsvar_file($gsvar, $sample_c, $sample_f, $sample_m, $gender_data)
 		if ($is_wgs_shallow)
 		{
 			//determine gender of child
-			list($stdout, $stderr) = $parser->exec(get_path("ngs-bits")."SampleGender", "-method xy -in $c -build ".ngsbits_build($sys['build']), true);
+			list($stdout, $stderr) = $parser->exec(get_path("ngs-bits")."SampleGender", "-method xy -in $c -build ".ngsbits_build($sys['build'])." -ref {$genome}", true);
 			$gender_data = explode("\t", $stdout[1])[1];
 			if ($gender_data!="male" && $gender_data!="female") $gender_data = "n/a";
 			print "Gender of child (from data): {$gender_data}\n";
diff --git a/src/Pipelines/trio_longread.php b/src/Pipelines/trio_longread.php
index 01bd93468..4495f533c 100644
--- a/src/Pipelines/trio_longread.php
+++ b/src/Pipelines/trio_longread.php
@@ -321,7 +321,8 @@ function fix_gsvar_file($gsvar, $sample_c, $sample_f, $sample_m, $gender_data)
 		print "Medelian errors: ".number_format(100.0*$vars_mendelian_error/$vars_high_depth, 2)."% (of {$vars_high_depth} high-depth, autosomal variants)\n";
 		
 		//determine gender of child
-		list($stdout, $stderr) = $parser->exec(get_path("ngs-bits")."SampleGender", "-method hetx -in $c -build ".ngsbits_build($build), true);
+		$genome = genome_fasta($build);
+		list($stdout, $stderr) = $parser->exec(get_path("ngs-bits")."SampleGender", "-method hetx -in $c -build ".ngsbits_build($build)." -ref {$genome}", true);
 		$gender_data = explode("\t", $stdout[1])[1];
 		if ($gender_data!="male" && $gender_data!="female") $gender_data = "n/a";
 		print "Gender of child (from data): {$gender_data}\n";