diff --git a/dev-infrastructure/configurations/svc-cluster.tmpl.bicepparam b/dev-infrastructure/configurations/svc-cluster.tmpl.bicepparam
index 84adc894b..88a7d36b4 100644
--- a/dev-infrastructure/configurations/svc-cluster.tmpl.bicepparam
+++ b/dev-infrastructure/configurations/svc-cluster.tmpl.bicepparam
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 using '../templates/svc-cluster.bicep'
 
 param kubernetesVersion = '{{ .kubernetesVersion }}'
-param istioVersion = length('{{ .svc.istio.newVersion }}') == 0 ? ['{{ .svc.istio.version }}'] : ['{{ .svc.istio.version }}', '{{ .svc.istio.newVersion }}']
+param istioVersion = ['{{ .svc.istio.version }}', '{{ .svc.istio.newVersion }}']
 param vnetAddressPrefix = '{{ .vnetAddressPrefix }}'
 param subnetPrefix = '{{ .subnetPrefix }}'
 param podSubnetPrefix = '{{ .podSubnetPrefix }}'
diff --git a/dev-infrastructure/templates/svc-cluster.bicep b/dev-infrastructure/templates/svc-cluster.bicep
index c057ec4b6..f89b88f69 100644
--- a/dev-infrastructure/templates/svc-cluster.bicep
+++ b/dev-infrastructure/templates/svc-cluster.bicep
@@ -147,6 +147,7 @@ param aroDevopsMsiId string
 param regionalDNSZoneName string
 
 var clusterServiceMIName = 'clusters-service'
+var istio = empty(istioVersion[1]) ? [istioVersion[0]] : istioVersion
 
 // Tags the resource group
 resource subscriptionTags 'Microsoft.Resources/tags@2024-03-01' = {
@@ -170,7 +171,7 @@ module svcCluster '../modules/aks-cluster-base.bicep' = {
     aksEtcdKVEnableSoftDelete: aksEtcdKVEnableSoftDelete
     kubernetesVersion: kubernetesVersion
     deployIstio: true
-    istioVersion: istioVersion
+    istioVersion: istio
     vnetAddressPrefix: vnetAddressPrefix
     subnetPrefix: subnetPrefix
     podSubnetPrefix: podSubnetPrefix