diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2ea872655..313be748b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@
 - Update gitpod vscode extensions to use nf-core extension pack ([#3327](https://github.com/nf-core/tools/pull/3327))
 - Remove toList() channel operation from inside onComplete block ([#3304](https://github.com/nf-core/tools/pull/3304))
 - build: Setup VS Code tests ([#3292](https://github.com/nf-core/tools/pull/3292))
+- Don't break gitpod.yml with template string ([#3332](https://github.com/nf-core/tools/pull/3332))
 
 ### Version updates
 
diff --git a/nf_core/pipeline-template/.gitpod.yml b/nf_core/pipeline-template/.gitpod.yml
index 67d24ff0f..c02b93834 100644
--- a/nf_core/pipeline-template/.gitpod.yml
+++ b/nf_core/pipeline-template/.gitpod.yml
@@ -3,9 +3,8 @@ tasks:
   - name: Update Nextflow and setup pre-commit
     command: |
       pre-commit install --install-hooks
-      nextflow self-update
+      nextflow self-update {% if code_linters %}
 
 vscode:
   extensions:
-    #{%- if code_linters -%}
     - nf-core.nf-core-extensionpack # https://github.com/nf-core/vscode-extensionpack{% endif %}