diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index 95fc3f0a..5d1f3637 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -276,6 +276,7 @@ var convertCmd = &cobra.Command{
 		return validateCobraArgs(cmd, args)
 	},
 	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+		course.ParseEnv = false
 		newCourse, err := course.OpenCourseFile(courseFile, courseSchema)
 		if err != nil {
 			color.Red(err.Error())
diff --git a/pkg/course/course.go b/pkg/course/course.go
index 64719305..b3957d7a 100644
--- a/pkg/course/course.go
+++ b/pkg/course/course.go
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import (
 
 var (
 	SchemaValidationError error = errors.New("Course file has schema validation errors")
+	ParseEnv              bool  = true
 )
 
 // FileV2 is the heart of reckoner, it contains the definitions of the releases to be installed
@@ -641,6 +642,9 @@ func parseSecrets(courseData []byte) error {
 }
 
 func parseEnv(data string) (string, error) {
+	if !ParseEnv {
+		return data, nil
+	}
 	dataWithEnv := os.Expand(data, func(key string) string {
 		if key == "$" {
 			return "$"