diff --git a/.vscode/settings.json b/.vscode/settings.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..008074e26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.vscode/settings.json
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+    "go.formatTool": "gofmt"
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pkg/tanka/export.go b/pkg/tanka/export.go
index 8916bd0ac..69109595f 100644
--- a/pkg/tanka/export.go
+++ b/pkg/tanka/export.go
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ func writeExportFile(path string, data []byte) error {
 
 func createTemplate(format string, env manifest.Manifest) (*template.Template, error) {
 	// Replace all os.path separators in string with BelRune for creating subfolders
-	replaceFormat := strings.Replace(format, string(os.PathSeparator), BelRune, -1)
+	replaceFormat := replaceTmplText(format, string(os.PathSeparator), BelRune)
 
 	envMap := template.FuncMap{"env": func() manifest.Manifest { return env }}
 
@@ -189,6 +189,24 @@ func createTemplate(format string, env manifest.Manifest) (*template.Template, e
 	return template, nil
 }
 
+func replaceTmplText(s, old, new string) string {
+	parts := []string{}
+	l := strings.Index(s, "{{")
+	r := strings.Index(s, "}}") + 2
+
+	for l != -1 && l < r {
+		// replace only in text between template action blocks
+		text := strings.ReplaceAll(s[:l], old, new)
+		action := s[l:r]
+		parts = append(parts, text, action)
+		s = s[r:]
+		l = strings.Index(s, "{{")
+		r = strings.Index(s, "}}") + 2
+	}
+	parts = append(parts, strings.ReplaceAll(s, old, new))
+	return strings.Join(parts, "")
+}
+
 func applyTemplate(template *template.Template, m manifest.Manifest) (path string, err error) {
 	buf := bytes.Buffer{}
 	if err := template.Execute(&buf, m); err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/tanka/export_test.go b/pkg/tanka/export_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9663c6952
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/tanka/export_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+package tanka
+
+import "testing"
+
+func Test_replaceTmplText(t *testing.T) {
+	type args struct {
+		s   string
+		old string
+		new string
+	}
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string
+		args args
+		want string
+	}{
+		{"text only", args{"a", "a", "b"}, "b"},
+		{"action blocks", args{"{{a}}{{.}}", "a", "b"}, "{{a}}{{.}}"},
+		{"mixed", args{"a{{a}}a{{a}}a", "a", "b"}, "b{{a}}b{{a}}b"},
+		{"invalid template format handled as text", args{"a}}a{{a", "a", "b"}, "b}}b{{b"},
+		{
+			name: "keep path separator in action block",
+			args: args{`{{index .metadata.labels "app.kubernetes.io/name"}}/{{.metadata.name}}`, "/", BelRune},
+			want: "{{index .metadata.labels \"app.kubernetes.io/name\"}}\u0007{{.metadata.name}}",
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			if got := replaceTmplText(tt.args.s, tt.args.old, tt.args.new); got != tt.want {
+				t.Errorf("replaceInTmplText() = %v, want %v", got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}