diff --git a/scripts/arty.sh b/scripts/arty.sh
index 594ab96a..233f8d51 100755
--- a/scripts/arty.sh
+++ b/scripts/arty.sh
@@ -282,20 +282,10 @@ parse_reference() {
   local config_file="$1"
   local ref_index="$2"
 
-  # Single yq call for all fields — multiple calls per reference were flooding
-  # the process table on hosts with low ulimit -u (e.g. IONOS shared hosting),
-  # causing intermittent empty 'into' values and wrong install locations.
-  yq eval "
-    .references[$ref_index] as \$r |
-    if (\$r | type) == \"!!str\" then
-      \$r + \"|||\"
-    else
-      ((\$r.url  // \"\") | if . == \"null\" then \"\" else . end) + \"|\" +
-      ((\$r.into // \"\") | if . == \"null\" then \"\" else . end) + \"|\" +
-      ((\$r.ref  // \"\") | if . == \"null\" then \"\" else . end) + \"|\" +
-      (\$r.env | if . == null then \"\" elif type == \"!!seq\" then join(\",\") else (. | if . == \"null\" then \"\" else . end) end)
-    end
-  " "$config_file" 2>/dev/null
+  # Single yq call using only // and select — if-then-else is not supported in
+  # all yq v4 builds. .url//.  handles both string refs (no .url key) and object
+  # refs. env array is joined; null env falls back to empty string.
+  yq eval ".references[$ref_index] | (.url // .) + \"|\" + (.into // \"\") + \"|\" + (.ref // \"\") + \"|\" + ((.env | select(tag == \"!!seq\") | join(\",\")) // .env // \"\")" "$config_file" 2>/dev/null
 }
 
 # Check if current environment matches the filter