diff --git a/dagflow/bundles/load_variables.py b/dagflow/bundles/load_variables.py
index 8b5729ec4c4926dc01d5713db8e3c0c63a5ecc78..9bfddbd2510e95c1644bf6e90b1b6f711fea6bcf 100644
--- a/dagflow/bundles/load_variables.py
+++ b/dagflow/bundles/load_variables.py
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ def load_variables(acfg):
 
     path = cfg['path']
     if path:
-        path = path.split('.')
+        path = tuple(path.split('.'))
     else:
         path = ()
 
diff --git a/test/variables/test_load_variables.py b/test/variables/test_load_variables.py
index 60b7d4691b5d96ad017b4b2648ff03b58cb21000..f984eeeb4eb6d2de844bf94f0b03102857c33b94 100644
--- a/test/variables/test_load_variables.py
+++ b/test/variables/test_load_variables.py
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ cfg2 = {
                 'var3': (2.0, 1.0, 0.1)
                 }
             },
+        'path': 'sub.folder',
         'format': ('value', 'central', 'sigma_absolute'),
         'state': 'fixed',
         'labels': {