diff --git a/cicd/deploy_ephemeral_env.sh b/cicd/deploy_ephemeral_env.sh
index 021d5e63..7ff1d6b0 100644
--- a/cicd/deploy_ephemeral_env.sh
+++ b/cicd/deploy_ephemeral_env.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 source ${CICD_ROOT}/_common_deploy_logic.sh
 
 # Caller can define any extra deploy arguments to be passed to bonfire
-: "${EXTRA_DEPLOY_ARGS:='""'}"
+: ${EXTRA_DEPLOY_ARGS:=""}
 
 # Deploy k8s resources for app and its dependencies (use insights-stage instead of insights-production for now)
 # -> use this PR as the template ref when downloading configurations for this component