diff --git a/de/heat-templates/scripts/instance_boot.sh b/de/heat-templates/scripts/instance_boot.sh
index 53fb81b..8928329 100644
--- a/de/heat-templates/scripts/instance_boot.sh
+++ b/de/heat-templates/scripts/instance_boot.sh
@@ -36,11 +36,11 @@
 TUNNEL_INTERFACE=$(ip -o addr show |grep -w ${TUNNEL_INTERFACE_IP}/${TUNNEL_INTERFACE_NETWORK_NETMASK} | awk '{print $2}')
 NODE_TYPE=$node_type
 UCP_MASTER_HOST=$ucp_master_host
-NODE_METADATA='$node_metadata'
-DOCKER_EE_URL='$docker_ee_url'
-DOCKER_EE_RELEASE='$docker_ee_release'
-DOCKER_UCP_IMAGE='$docker_ucp_image'
-UCP_DOCKER_SWARM_DATA_PORT='$docker_ucp_swarm_data_port'
+NODE_METADATA=${NODE_METADATA:-'$node_metadata'}
+DOCKER_EE_URL=$docker_ee_url
+DOCKER_EE_RELEASE=$docker_ee_release
+DOCKER_UCP_IMAGE=$docker_ucp_image
+UCP_DOCKER_SWARM_DATA_PORT=$docker_ucp_swarm_data_port
 FLOATING_NETWORK_PREFIXES=$private_floating_network_cidr
 IRONIC_MT_ENABLED=$ironic_mt_enabled
 IRONIC_BAREMETAL_NETWORK_PREFIX=$(sed 's/[0-9]*\/[0-9]*$//' <<< $IRONIC_BAREMETAL_NETWORK)
@@ -634,7 +634,7 @@
 
 function set_node_labels {
     function set_node_labels_retry {
-        kubectl patch node $(hostname) -p "{\"metadata\": ${NODE_METADATA}}"
+        kubectl patch node $(hostname) -p "{\"metadata\": $(echo $NODE_METADATA | jq -c ".")}"
     }
     retry 10 "Labeling node failed" set_node_labels_retry
 }