diff --git a/eng/pipelines/vmr-sync-internal.yml b/eng/pipelines/vmr-sync-internal.yml
index 01b19525c..176f98910 100644
--- a/eng/pipelines/vmr-sync-internal.yml
+++ b/eng/pipelines/vmr-sync-internal.yml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ parameters:
 variables: 
 - ${{ if ne(parameters.vmrBranch, ' ') }}:
   - name: VmrBranch
-    value: ${{ parameters.vmrBranch }}
+    value: ${{ replace(parameters.vmrBranch, ' ', '') }}
 - ${{ else }}:
   - name: VmrBranch
     value: ${{ replace(replace(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/heads/', ''), 'refs/pull/', '') }}
diff --git a/eng/pipelines/vmr-sync.yml b/eng/pipelines/vmr-sync.yml
index 70e47d257..aa12adcbe 100644
--- a/eng/pipelines/vmr-sync.yml
+++ b/eng/pipelines/vmr-sync.yml
@@ -19,12 +19,12 @@ parameters:
 - name: vmrBranch
   displayName: dotnet/dotnet branch to push to
   type: string
-  default: ''
+  default: ' '
 
 variables: 
-- ${{ if ne(parameters.vmrBranch, '') }}:
+- ${{ if ne(parameters.vmrBranch, ' ') }}:
   - name: VmrBranch
-    value: ${{ parameters.vmrBranch }}
+    value: ${{ replace(parameters.vmrBranch, ' ', '') }}
 - ${{ else }}:
   - name: VmrBranch
     value: ${{ replace(replace(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/heads/', ''), 'refs/pull/', '') }}