diff --git a/habitat-hitl/habitat_hitl/_internal/hitl_driver.py b/habitat-hitl/habitat_hitl/_internal/hitl_driver.py
index 744199f659..1ade9b7b58 100644
--- a/habitat-hitl/habitat_hitl/_internal/hitl_driver.py
+++ b/habitat-hitl/habitat_hitl/_internal/hitl_driver.py
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ def __init__(
             )
         self._hitl_config = omegaconf_to_object(config.habitat_hitl)
         self._dataset_config = config.habitat.dataset
-        self._play_episodes_filter_str = str(self._hitl_config.episodes_filter)
+        self._play_episodes_filter_str = self._hitl_config.episodes_filter
         self._num_recorded_episodes = 0
         if (
             not self._hitl_config.experimental.headless