diff --git a/.kokoro/build.sh b/.kokoro/build.sh
index 12351a2c6..5d55b8364 100755
--- a/.kokoro/build.sh
+++ b/.kokoro/build.sh
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ samples)
 
     if [[ -f ${SAMPLES_DIR}/pom.xml ]]
     then
-        pushd {SAMPLES_DIR}
+        pushd ${SAMPLES_DIR}
         mvn -B \
           -Penable-samples \
           -DtrimStackTrace=false \
diff --git a/synth.metadata b/synth.metadata
index 17713820c..749672b30 100644
--- a/synth.metadata
+++ b/synth.metadata
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
       "git": {
         "name": "synthtool",
         "remote": "https://github.com/googleapis/synthtool.git",
-        "sha": "5f6ef0ec5501d33c4667885b37a7685a30d41a76"
+        "sha": "f68649c5f26bcff6817c6d21e90dac0fc71fef8e"
       }
     }
   ],