diff --git a/tools/render b/tools/render
index 96a90c0..daaf595 100755
--- a/tools/render
+++ b/tools/render
@@ -43,8 +43,8 @@ def node_encoder(node: dict):
                 except Exception as e:
                     e.add_note(f"While rendering for: {node['hostname']}")
                     raise e
-                # Parse the rendered yaml and convert it to a json patch
-                return json.dumps(yaml.safe_load(rendered))
+                # Parse the rendered yaml
+                return yaml.safe_load(rendered)
 
             return super().default(o)