diff --git a/src/usr/local/bin/validate_workflow.sh b/src/usr/local/bin/validate_workflow.sh
index 3b3afa70ff4de82e40d519d6de7cdc7734d73422..33bae730263b74714f54619efa3a63eea2a335d0 100755
--- a/src/usr/local/bin/validate_workflow.sh
+++ b/src/usr/local/bin/validate_workflow.sh
@@ -533,7 +533,7 @@ run_validation_cmd() {
         is_valid="1" # invalid, prepare cmd failed
         echo "Failed to build validation command from stage '${stage}', mode '${mode}', mimetype '${mimetype}', mapped file type '${ftype}'" >> "${logname}"
     else
-        cmd=$(echo "${cmd}" | sed -e "s#FILE#${filename}#") # replace FILE placeholder
+        cmd="${cmd//FILE/${filename}}" # replace FILE placeholder
         is_valid=$(exec_cmd "${cmd}" "${ftype}" "${mode}" "${stage}" "${logname}")
     fi
     debug "run_validation_cmd, is_valid: ${is_valid}"