diff --git a/pkg/operator/ceph/cluster/osd/spec.go b/pkg/operator/ceph/cluster/osd/spec.go
index 7321bce9a..1d20518bd 100644
--- a/pkg/operator/ceph/cluster/osd/spec.go
+++ b/pkg/operator/ceph/cluster/osd/spec.go
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ fi
 curl "${ARGS[@]}" "$VAULT_ADDR"/"$VAULT_KV_VERS"/"$VAULT_BACKEND_PATH"/"$KEK_NAME" > "$CURL_PAYLOAD"
 
 # Check for errors in the payload
-if python3 -c "import sys, json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)[\"errors\"], end='')" 2> /dev/null < a; then
+if python3 -c "import sys, json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)[\"errors\"], end='')" 2> /dev/null < "$CURL_PAYLOAD"; then
 	exit 1
 fi