diff --git a/docs/development/debugging.md b/docs/development/debugging.md
index 6baa6df270..7b94dd2d90 100644
--- a/docs/development/debugging.md
+++ b/docs/development/debugging.md
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ spec:
       containerTemplate:
         env:
           - name: NUMAFLOW_DEBUG
-            value: "true" # DO NOT forget the double quotes!!!
+            value: !!str "true"
     - name: out
       sink:
         log: {}
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ spec:
       containerTemplate:
         env:
           - name: NUMAFLOW_DEBUG
-            value: "true" # DO NOT forget the double quotes!!!
+            value: !!str "true"
 ```
 
 ## Profiling
diff --git a/examples/7-reduce-sliding-window.yaml b/examples/7-reduce-sliding-window.yaml
index d0d05f8eb1..0d9230b601 100644
--- a/examples/7-reduce-sliding-window.yaml
+++ b/examples/7-reduce-sliding-window.yaml
@@ -10,14 +10,14 @@ spec:
       containerTemplate:
         env:
           - name: NUMAFLOW_DEBUG
-            value: "true" # DO NOT forget the double quotes!!!
+            value: !!str "true"
       source:
         http: {}
     - name: map
       containerTemplate:
         env:
           - name: NUMAFLOW_DEBUG
-            value: "true" # DO NOT forget the double quotes!!!
+            value: !!str "true"
       scale:
         min: 1
         max: 1
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ spec:
       containerTemplate:
         env:
           - name: NUMAFLOW_DEBUG
-            value: "true" # DO NOT forget the double quotes!!!
+            value: !!str "true"
     - name: sink
       scale:
         min: 1
diff --git a/test/e2e/testdata/watermark.yaml b/test/e2e/testdata/watermark.yaml
index 5ca0e7d186..abbd30f918 100644
--- a/test/e2e/testdata/watermark.yaml
+++ b/test/e2e/testdata/watermark.yaml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ spec:
       containerTemplate:
         env:
           - name: NUMAFLOW_DEBUG
-            value: "true" # DO NOT forget the double quotes!!!
+            value: !!str "true"
     - name: cat1
       partitions: 2
       udf:
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ spec:
       containerTemplate:
         env:
           - name: NUMAFLOW_DEBUG
-            value: "true" # DO NOT forget the double quotes!!!
+            value: !!str "true"
     - name: cat2
       udf:
         builtin:
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ spec:
       containerTemplate:
         env:
           - name: NUMAFLOW_DEBUG
-            value: "true" # DO NOT forget the double quotes!!!
+            value: !!str "true"
     - name: cat3
       partitions: 3
       udf:
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ spec:
       containerTemplate:
         env:
           - name: NUMAFLOW_DEBUG
-            value: "true" # DO NOT forget the double quotes!!!
+            value: !!str "true"
     - name: output1
       sink:
         # A simple log printing sink
diff --git a/test/manifests/kustomization.yaml b/test/manifests/kustomization.yaml
index 04181c8793..87a4407f00 100644
--- a/test/manifests/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/test/manifests/kustomization.yaml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ patches:
         path: /spec/template/spec/containers/0/env/-
         value:
           name: NUMAFLOW_DEBUG
-          value: "true"
+          value: !!str "true"
     target:
       kind: Deployment
       name: numaflow-controller