diff --git a/playbooks/pre-install-playbook/roles/viya-ark.preinstall/tasks/pre.os_version_check.yml b/playbooks/pre-install-playbook/roles/viya-ark.preinstall/tasks/pre.os_version_check.yml
index ab8fb9d..5f58fc3 100644
--- a/playbooks/pre-install-playbook/roles/viya-ark.preinstall/tasks/pre.os_version_check.yml
+++ b/playbooks/pre-install-playbook/roles/viya-ark.preinstall/tasks/pre.os_version_check.yml
@@ -25,17 +25,17 @@
     assert:
       that: 
         # either 6 or 7
-        - ansible_distribution_major_version | version_compare(os_major_version_1, '==')
+        - ansible_distribution_major_version is version_compare(os_major_version_1, '==')
           or
-          ansible_distribution_major_version | version_compare(os_major_version_2, '==')
+          ansible_distribution_major_version is version_compare(os_major_version_2, '==')
         # at least 6.7 if 6 or at least 7.1 if 7
-        - (ansible_distribution_major_version | version_compare(os_major_version_1, '==')
+        - (ansible_distribution_major_version is version_compare(os_major_version_1, '==')
           and
-          ansible_distribution_version | version_compare(os_major_minor_version_1, '>='))
+          ansible_distribution_version is version_compare(os_major_minor_version_1, '>='))
           or
-          (ansible_distribution_major_version | version_compare(os_major_version_2, '==')
+          (ansible_distribution_major_version is version_compare(os_major_version_2, '==')
           and
-          ansible_distribution_version | version_compare(os_major_minor_version_2, '>='))
+          ansible_distribution_version is version_compare(os_major_minor_version_2, '>='))
       msg: |
         The OS of this server is not supported.
         Viya requires {{redhat_os_name}} {{os_major_version_1}} or {{os_major_version_2}}, (at least {{os_major_minor_version_1}} or {{os_major_minor_version_2}} )
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
     assert:
       that:
         # version is at least 12.2
-        - ansible_distribution_version | version_compare(suse_os_major_minor_version, '>=')
+        - ansible_distribution_version is version_compare(suse_os_major_minor_version, '>=')
       msg: |
         The OS of this server is not supported.
         Viya requires {{suse_os_name}} at least version {{suse_os_major_minor_version}}
diff --git a/playbooks/pre-install-playbook/roles/viya-ark.preinstall/tasks/pre.third_party_check.yml b/playbooks/pre-install-playbook/roles/viya-ark.preinstall/tasks/pre.third_party_check.yml
index f2b65f3..f8ee630 100644
--- a/playbooks/pre-install-playbook/roles/viya-ark.preinstall/tasks/pre.third_party_check.yml
+++ b/playbooks/pre-install-playbook/roles/viya-ark.preinstall/tasks/pre.third_party_check.yml
@@ -14,13 +14,13 @@
   ## third-party checks block
   - name: Check for minimum version of Ansible
     fail: msg="It looks like your are using Ansible version {{ansible_version.full}} but SAS deployment requires version {{required_ansible_min_version}}."
-    when: ansible_version.full | version_compare(required_ansible_min_version, '<')
+    when: ansible_version.full is version_compare(required_ansible_min_version, '<')
     tags:
       - ansible_version_check
 
   - name: Check for minimum version of Python
     fail: msg="It looks like your are using Python {{ansible_python_version}} but SAS deployment requires Python {{required_python_min_version}}."
-    when: ansible_python_version | version_compare(required_python_min_version, '<')
+    when: ansible_python_version is version_compare(required_python_min_version, '<')
     tags:
       - python_version_check