diff --git a/.changeset/blue-fishes-grow.md b/.changeset/blue-fishes-grow.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c5dc0a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/blue-fishes-grow.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"create-solana-program": patch
+---
+
+Fix program env variable regex
diff --git a/template/base/scripts/utils.mjs b/template/base/scripts/utils.mjs
index d5c3fc4..9bbe49b 100644
--- a/template/base/scripts/utils.mjs
+++ b/template/base/scripts/utils.mjs
@@ -28,9 +28,18 @@ export function getExternalProgramAddresses() {
 
 let didWarnAboutMissingPrograms = false;
 export function getProgramFolders() {
-  const programs = process.env.PROGRAMS
-    ? process.env.PROGRAMS.split(/\s+/)
-    : getAllProgramFolders();
+  let programs;
+
+  if (process.env.PROGRAMS) {
+    try {
+      programs = JSON.parse(process.env.PROGRAMS);
+    } catch (error) {
+      programs = process.env.PROGRAMS.split(/\s+/);
+    }
+  } else {
+    programs = getAllProgramFolders();
+  }
+
   const filteredPrograms = programs.filter((program) =>
     fs.existsSync(path.join(workingDirectory, program))
   );