diff --git a/cmd/prototype.go b/cmd/prototype.go
index 419adec647c8175e4a29beac42817f2a0383a085..8e552313f63bea0b182745f4201e6e141e2d1ffe 100644
--- a/cmd/prototype.go
+++ b/cmd/prototype.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/ksonnet/ksonnet/metadata"
 	"github.com/ksonnet/ksonnet/prototype"
+	"github.com/ksonnet/ksonnet/prototype/snippet"
 	"github.com/ksonnet/ksonnet/prototype/snippet/jsonnet"
 	"github.com/ksonnet/ksonnet/utils"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
@@ -450,9 +451,11 @@ func expandPrototype(proto *prototype.SpecificationSchema, templateType prototyp
 			componentsText = fmt.Sprintf(`components["%s"]`, componentName)
 		}
 		template = append([]string{`local params = std.extVar("` + metadata.ParamsExtCodeKey + `").` + componentsText + ";"}, template...)
+		return jsonnet.Parse(componentName, strings.Join(template, "\n"))
 	}
 
-	return jsonnet.Parse(componentName, strings.Join(template, "\n"))
+	tm := snippet.Parse(strings.Join(template, "\n"))
+	return tm.Evaluate(params)
 }
 
 func getParameters(proto *prototype.SpecificationSchema, flags *pflag.FlagSet) (map[string]string, error) {