diff --git a/nf_core/utils.py b/nf_core/utils.py
index 06fd69ebd..5120519e5 100644
--- a/nf_core/utils.py
+++ b/nf_core/utils.py
@@ -1139,11 +1139,7 @@ def load_tools_config(directory: Union[str, Path] = ".") -> Tuple[Optional[Path]
     wf_config = fetch_wf_config(Path(directory))
     if nf_core_yaml_config["repository_type"] == "pipeline" and wf_config:
         # Retrieve information if template from config file is empty
-        config_template_keys = (
-            tools_config["template"].keys()
-            if "template" in tools_config and tools_config["template"] is not None
-            else []
-        )
+       config_template_keys = tools_config.get('template', {}).keys()
         if nf_core_yaml_config.template is None:
             # The .nf-core.yml file did not contain template information
             nf_core_yaml_config.template = NFCoreTemplateConfig(