diff --git a/packages/string-templates/src/helpers/javascript.ts b/packages/string-templates/src/helpers/javascript.ts
index 4d53fe335d..61fe872103 100644
--- a/packages/string-templates/src/helpers/javascript.ts
+++ b/packages/string-templates/src/helpers/javascript.ts
@@ -64,7 +64,11 @@ const getContextValue = (path: string, context: any) => {
   if (isBackendService()) {
     return data
   } else {
-    return cloneDeep(data)
+    if (typeof data === "object") {
+      return cloneDeep(data)
+    } else {
+      return data
+    }
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/string-templates/test/manifest.spec.ts b/packages/string-templates/test/manifest.spec.ts
index de0e3355fd..2d09bc7871 100644
--- a/packages/string-templates/test/manifest.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/string-templates/test/manifest.spec.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-import vm from "vm"
-
 jest.mock("@budibase/handlebars-helpers/lib/math", () => {
   const actual = jest.requireActual("@budibase/handlebars-helpers/lib/math")
 
@@ -17,7 +15,7 @@ jest.mock("@budibase/handlebars-helpers/lib/uuid", () => {
   }
 })
 
-import { processString, setJSRunner } from "../src/index"
+import { defaultJSSetup, processString } from "../src/index"
 
 import tk from "timekeeper"
 import { getParsedManifest, runJsHelpersTests } from "./utils"
@@ -32,9 +30,7 @@ describe("manifest", () => {
   const manifest = getParsedManifest()
 
   beforeAll(() => {
-    setJSRunner((js, context) => {
-      return vm.runInNewContext(js, context, { timeout: 1000 })
-    })
+    defaultJSSetup()
   })
 
   describe("examples are valid", () => {