diff --git a/cli/exec/metadata.go b/cli/exec/metadata.go
index 934a81d9d83..5e696b09cbe 100644
--- a/cli/exec/metadata.go
+++ b/cli/exec/metadata.go
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@ import (
 func metadataFromContext(_ context.Context, c *cli.Command, axis matrix.Axis, w *metadata.Workflow) (*metadata.Metadata, error) {
 	m := &metadata.Metadata{}
 
+	if w != nil {
+		m.Workflow = *w
+	}
+
 	if c.IsSet("metadata-file") {
 		metadataFile, err := os.Open(c.String("metadata-file"))
 		if err != nil {
@@ -147,10 +151,6 @@ func metadataFromContext(_ context.Context, c *cli.Command, axis matrix.Axis, w
 	metadataFileAndOverrideOrDefault(c, "forge-type", func(s string) { m.Forge.Type = s }, c.String)
 	metadataFileAndOverrideOrDefault(c, "forge-url", func(s string) { m.Forge.URL = s }, c.String)
 
-	if w != nil {
-		m.Workflow = *w
-	}
-
 	return m, nil
 }