diff --git a/common.wdl b/common.wdl
index 87dcce1391bc938848fee0f551cd230de05af3f5..389b3511a7cb31ddcfac245ec4c84614b71934e4 100644
--- a/common.wdl
+++ b/common.wdl
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ task TextToFile {
     }
 
     command <<<
-        echo $'~{text}' > ~{outputFile}
+        echo ~{text} > ~{outputFile}
     >>>
 
     output {