diff --git a/pdf_build_src/build_pdf.sh b/pdf_build_src/build_pdf.sh
index 43b8038456..ff1b26df89 100755
--- a/pdf_build_src/build_pdf.sh
+++ b/pdf_build_src/build_pdf.sh
@@ -10,10 +10,11 @@ python3 process_markdowns.py
 cp pandoc_script.py header.tex cover.tex header_setup.tex src_copy/src
 
 # run pandoc_script from src_copy directory
+(
 cd src_copy/src
 python3 pandoc_script.py
 mv bids-spec.pdf ../..
-cd ../..
+)
 
 # delete the duplicated src directory
 rm -rf src_copy