diff --git a/src/usr/local/bin/validate_workflow.sh b/src/usr/local/bin/validate_workflow.sh
index 3472dc20e1d7e7527fb7169508048bf0a0235736..a7e73a8b0babf6210cf73004d35f08d9211c26c9 100755
--- a/src/usr/local/bin/validate_workflow.sh
+++ b/src/usr/local/bin/validate_workflow.sh
@@ -361,7 +361,7 @@ prepare_cmd() {
     check_argument_notempty "${stage}"
     local key
     local cmd
-    key=$(printf "%11s%4s%9s" "${mode}" "${ftype}" "${stage}"|sed -e "y/ /_/")
+    key=$(printf "%11s%4s%9s" "${mode}" "${ftype}" "${stage}" | sed -e "y/ /_/")
     check_argument_notempty "${key}"
     debug "prepare_cmd, key=${key}"
     if [[ -n ${validators[${key}]:+1} ]]; then