diff --git a/internal/dataplane/util/ansible_execution.go b/internal/dataplane/util/ansible_execution.go
index 7930831a1..b33abbc99 100644
--- a/internal/dataplane/util/ansible_execution.go
+++ b/internal/dataplane/util/ansible_execution.go
@@ -278,7 +278,8 @@ func (a *EEJob) FormatAEEExtraVars(
 	}
 
 	if len(deployment.Spec.ServicesOverride) > 0 {
-		a.ExtraVars["edpm_services_override"] = json.RawMessage([]byte(fmt.Sprintf("\"%s\"", deployment.Spec.ServicesOverride)))
+		extraVarsJSON, _ := json.Marshal(deployment.Spec.ServicesOverride)
+		a.ExtraVars["edpm_services_override"] = json.RawMessage([]byte(fmt.Sprintf("\"%s\"", extraVarsJSON)))
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/test/kuttl/tests/dataplane-deploy-tls-test/03-assert.yaml b/test/kuttl/tests/dataplane-deploy-tls-test/03-assert.yaml
index 5e1815f9f..12b5f9d1c 100644
--- a/test/kuttl/tests/dataplane-deploy-tls-test/03-assert.yaml
+++ b/test/kuttl/tests/dataplane-deploy-tls-test/03-assert.yaml
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ spec:
 
             edpm_override_hosts: openstack-edpm-tls
             edpm_service_type: tls-dns-ips
-            edpm_services_override: [install-certs-ovrd tls-dns-ips custom-tls-dns]
+            edpm_services_override: [install-certs-ovrd, tls-dns-ips, custom-tls-dns]
 
 
         imagePullPolicy: Always
@@ -315,7 +315,7 @@ spec:
 
             edpm_override_hosts: openstack-edpm-tls
             edpm_service_type: custom-tls-dns
-            edpm_services_override: [install-certs-ovrd tls-dns-ips custom-tls-dns]
+            edpm_services_override: [install-certs-ovrd, tls-dns-ips, custom-tls-dns]
 
 
         imagePullPolicy: Always