diff --git a/applicationset/utils/utils.go b/applicationset/utils/utils.go
index 5b5fbc69ca031..90e65ef5dafdc 100644
--- a/applicationset/utils/utils.go
+++ b/applicationset/utils/utils.go
@@ -283,7 +283,10 @@ func (r *Render) Replace(tmpl string, replaceMap map[string]interface{}, useGoTe
 		return tmpl, nil
 	}
 
-	fstTmpl := fasttemplate.New(tmpl, "{{", "}}")
+	fstTmpl, err := fasttemplate.NewTemplate(tmpl, "{{", "}}")
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("invalid template: %w", err)
+	}
 	replacedTmpl := fstTmpl.ExecuteFuncString(func(w io.Writer, tag string) (int, error) {
 		trimmedTag := strings.TrimSpace(tag)
 		replacement, ok := replaceMap[trimmedTag].(string)
diff --git a/applicationset/utils/utils_test.go b/applicationset/utils/utils_test.go
index b1f7c1164f104..0a62275befc9f 100644
--- a/applicationset/utils/utils_test.go
+++ b/applicationset/utils/utils_test.go
@@ -559,6 +559,14 @@ func TestRenderTemplateKeys(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+func Test_Render_Replace_no_panic_on_missing_closing_brace(t *testing.T) {
+	r := &Render{}
+	assert.NotPanics(t, func() {
+		_, err := r.Replace("{{properly.closed}} {{improperly.closed}", nil, false, []string{})
+		assert.Error(t, err)
+	})
+}
+
 func TestRenderTemplateParamsFinalizers(t *testing.T) {
 
 	emptyApplication := &argoappsv1.Application{