diff --git a/easybuild/framework/easyconfig/templates.py b/easybuild/framework/easyconfig/templates.py
index 3ba5879ef1..5ebe8da888 100644
--- a/easybuild/framework/easyconfig/templates.py
+++ b/easybuild/framework/easyconfig/templates.py
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@
     ('cuda_sm_space_sep', "Space-separated list of sm_* values that correspond with CUDA compute capabilities"),
     ('mpi_cmd_prefix', "Prefix command for running MPI programs (with default number of ranks)"),
     # can't be a boolean (True/False), must be a string value since it's a string template
-    ('rpath', "String value indicating whether or not RPATH linking is used ('yes' or 'no')"),
+    ('rpath', "String value indicating whether or not RPATH linking is used ('true' or 'false')"),
     ('software_commit', "Git commit id to use for the software as specified by --software-commit command line option"),
     ('sysroot', "Location root directory of system, prefix for standard paths like /usr/lib and /usr/include"
      "as specified by the --sysroot configuration option"),
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ def template_constant_dict(config, ignore=None, skip_lower=None, toolchain=None)
     template_values['arch'] = platform.uname()[4]
 
     # set 'rpath' template based on 'rpath' configuration option, using empty string as fallback
-    template_values['rpath'] = 'yes' if build_option('rpath') else 'no'
+    template_values['rpath'] = 'true' if build_option('rpath') else 'false'
 
     # set 'sysroot' template based on 'sysroot' configuration option, using empty string as fallback
     template_values['sysroot'] = build_option('sysroot') or ''
diff --git a/test/framework/easyconfig.py b/test/framework/easyconfig.py
index 4556709dde..c379d67dac 100644
--- a/test/framework/easyconfig.py
+++ b/test/framework/easyconfig.py
@@ -1434,18 +1434,18 @@ def test_rpath_template(self):
         write_file(test_ec, test_ec_txt)
 
         ec = EasyConfig(test_ec)
-        expected = '--with-rpath=yes' if get_os_name() == 'Linux' else '--with-rpath=no'
+        expected = '--with-rpath=true' if get_os_name() == 'Linux' else '--with-rpath=false'
         self.assertEqual(ec['configopts'], expected)
 
         # force True
         update_build_option('rpath', True)
         ec = EasyConfig(test_ec)
-        self.assertEqual(ec['configopts'], "--with-rpath=yes")
+        self.assertEqual(ec['configopts'], "--with-rpath=true")
 
         # force False
         update_build_option('rpath', False)
         ec = EasyConfig(test_ec)
-        self.assertEqual(ec['configopts'], "--with-rpath=no")
+        self.assertEqual(ec['configopts'], "--with-rpath=false")
 
     def test_sysroot_template(self):
         """Test the %(sysroot)s template"""
@@ -3389,7 +3389,7 @@ def test_template_constant_dict(self):
 
         arch_regex = re.compile('^[a-z0-9_]+$')
 
-        rpath = 'yes' if get_os_name() == 'Linux' else 'no'
+        rpath = 'true' if get_os_name() == 'Linux' else 'false'
 
         expected = {
             'bitbucket_account': 'gzip',