diff --git a/src/main/java/org/opensearch/flowframework/model/Template.java b/src/main/java/org/opensearch/flowframework/model/Template.java
index f4a8b1958..3f42c225e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/opensearch/flowframework/model/Template.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/opensearch/flowframework/model/Template.java
@@ -260,9 +260,9 @@ public void writeTo(StreamOutput output) throws IOException {
     }
 
     /**
-     * Parse raw json content into a Template instance.
+     * Parse raw xContent into a Template instance.
      *
-     * @param parser json based content parser
+     * @param parser xContent based content parser
      * @return an instance of the template
      * @throws IOException if content can't be parsed correctly
      */
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/opensearch/flowframework/rest/RestCreateWorkflowAction.java b/src/main/java/org/opensearch/flowframework/rest/RestCreateWorkflowAction.java
index 5d8aed031..e254b66f7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/opensearch/flowframework/rest/RestCreateWorkflowAction.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/opensearch/flowframework/rest/RestCreateWorkflowAction.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 import org.opensearch.core.rest.RestStatus;
 import org.opensearch.core.xcontent.ToXContent;
 import org.opensearch.core.xcontent.XContentBuilder;
+import org.opensearch.core.xcontent.XContentParser;
 import org.opensearch.flowframework.common.FlowFrameworkFeatureEnabledSetting;
 import org.opensearch.flowframework.exception.FlowFrameworkException;
 import org.opensearch.flowframework.model.Template;
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Locale;
 
+import static org.opensearch.core.xcontent.XContentParserUtils.ensureExpectedToken;
 import static org.opensearch.flowframework.common.CommonValue.DRY_RUN;
 import static org.opensearch.flowframework.common.CommonValue.PROVISION_WORKFLOW;
 import static org.opensearch.flowframework.common.CommonValue.WORKFLOW_ID;
@@ -89,7 +91,9 @@ protected RestChannelConsumer prepareRequest(RestRequest request, NodeClient cli
             );
         }
         try {
-            Template template = Template.parse(request.content().utf8ToString());
+            XContentParser parser = request.contentParser();
+            ensureExpectedToken(XContentParser.Token.START_OBJECT, parser.nextToken(), parser);
+            Template template = Template.parse(parser);
             boolean dryRun = request.paramAsBoolean(DRY_RUN, false);
             boolean provision = request.paramAsBoolean(PROVISION_WORKFLOW, false);