diff --git a/pkg/crd/templates/testsuite.tmpl b/pkg/crd/templates/testsuite.tmpl
index 54e4c4c12d8..9b73acfebf0 100644
--- a/pkg/crd/templates/testsuite.tmpl
+++ b/pkg/crd/templates/testsuite.tmpl
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ spec:
         {{- if ne (len .ExecutionRequest.Args) 0 }}
         args:
         {{- range .ExecutionRequest.Args }}
-          - {{ . | quote }}
+          - "{{ . }}"
         {{- end }}
         {{- end }}
         {{- if .ExecutionRequest.ArgsMode }}
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ spec:
         {{- if ne (len .ExecutionRequest.Args) 0 }}
         args:
         {{- range .ExecutionRequest.Args }}
-          - {{ . | quote }}
+          - "{{ . }}"
         {{- end }}
         {{- end }}
         {{- if .ExecutionRequest.ArgsMode }}
@@ -345,7 +345,7 @@ spec:
         {{- if ne (len .ExecutionRequest.Args) 0 }}
         args:
         {{- range .ExecutionRequest.Args }}
-          - {{ . | quote }}
+          - "{{ . }}"
         {{- end }}
         {{- end }}
         {{- if .ExecutionRequest.ArgsMode }}
diff --git a/pkg/tcl/testsuitestcl/steps.go b/pkg/tcl/testsuitestcl/steps.go
index e56a87585f7..e027ebdd9a6 100644
--- a/pkg/tcl/testsuitestcl/steps.go
+++ b/pkg/tcl/testsuitestcl/steps.go
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@ import (
 
 // MergeStepRequest inherits step request fields with execution request
 func MergeStepRequest(stepRequest *testkube.TestSuiteStepExecutionRequest, executionRequest testkube.ExecutionRequest) testkube.ExecutionRequest {
+	if stepRequest == nil {
+		return executionRequest
+	}
 	if stepRequest.ExecutionLabels != nil {
 		executionRequest.ExecutionLabels = stepRequest.ExecutionLabels
 	}