diff --git a/pkg/pod/pod.go b/pkg/pod/pod.go
index 8bd8f65afb4..37e27f6050b 100644
--- a/pkg/pod/pod.go
+++ b/pkg/pod/pod.go
@@ -751,24 +751,23 @@ func usesWindows(tr *v1.TaskRun) bool {
 }
 
 func artifactsPathReferenced(steps []v1.Step) bool {
-	unresolvedPath := "$(step.artifacts.path)"
 	for i, step := range steps {
 		path := filepath.Join(pipeline.StepsDir, StepName(step.Name, i), "artifacts", "provenance.json")
-		if strings.Contains(step.Script, path) || strings.Contains(step.Script, unresolvedPath) {
+		if strings.Contains(step.Script, path) {
 			return true
 		}
 		for _, arg := range step.Args {
-			if strings.Contains(arg, path) || strings.Contains(arg, unresolvedPath) {
+			if strings.Contains(arg, path) {
 				return true
 			}
 		}
 		for _, c := range step.Command {
-			if strings.Contains(c, path) || strings.Contains(c, unresolvedPath) {
+			if strings.Contains(c, path) {
 				return true
 			}
 		}
 		for _, e := range step.Env {
-			if strings.Contains(e.Value, path) || strings.Contains(e.Value, unresolvedPath) {
+			if strings.Contains(e.Value, path) {
 				return true
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/pod/pod_test.go b/pkg/pod/pod_test.go
index 836b853cf7b..c17bb158a07 100644
--- a/pkg/pod/pod_test.go
+++ b/pkg/pod/pod_test.go
@@ -3942,52 +3942,6 @@ func Test_artifactsPathReferenced(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			want: true,
 		},
-		{
-			name: "Unresolved reference in Script",
-			steps: []v1.Step{
-				{
-					Name:   "name",
-					Script: "echo aaa >> $(step.artifacts.path)",
-				},
-			},
-			want: true,
-		},
-		{
-			name: "Unresolved reference in Args",
-			steps: []v1.Step{
-				{
-					Name:    "name",
-					Command: []string{"cat"},
-					Args:    []string{"$(step.artifacts.path)"},
-				},
-			},
-			want: true,
-		},
-		{
-			name: "Unresolved reference in Command",
-			steps: []v1.Step{
-				{
-					Name:    "name",
-					Command: []string{"cat", "$(step.artifacts.path)"},
-				},
-			},
-			want: true,
-		},
-		{
-			name: "Unresolved reference in Env",
-			steps: []v1.Step{
-				{
-					Name: "name",
-					Env: []corev1.EnvVar{
-						{
-							Name:  "MY_VAR",
-							Value: "$(step.artifacts.path)",
-						},
-					},
-				},
-			},
-			want: true,
-		},
 	}
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/pkg/pod/status.go b/pkg/pod/status.go
index ec659d49b03..b83e40d29dd 100644
--- a/pkg/pod/status.go
+++ b/pkg/pod/status.go
@@ -223,9 +223,11 @@ func setTaskRunStatusBasedOnStepStatus(ctx context.Context, logger *zap.SugaredL
 	// Extract results from sidecar logs
 	sidecarLogsResultsEnabled := config.FromContextOrDefaults(ctx).FeatureFlags.ResultExtractionMethod == config.ResultExtractionMethodSidecarLogs
 	// temporary solution to check if artifacts sidecar created in taskRun as we don't have the api for users to declare if a step/task is producing artifacts yet
-	artifactsSidecarCreated := artifactsPathReferenced(ts.Steps)
+	artifactsSidecarCreated := false
+	if tr.Spec.TaskSpec != nil {
+		artifactsSidecarCreated = artifactsPathReferenced(tr.Spec.TaskSpec.Steps)
+	}
 	sidecarLogResults := []result.RunResult{}
-
 	sidecarArtifacts := map[string]v1.Artifacts{}
 
 	if sidecarLogsResultsEnabled {
diff --git a/pkg/pod/status_test.go b/pkg/pod/status_test.go
index 44ac4df717c..6042d301677 100644
--- a/pkg/pod/status_test.go
+++ b/pkg/pod/status_test.go
@@ -174,6 +174,7 @@ func TestSetTaskRunStatusBasedOnStepStatus_sidecar_logs(t *testing.T) {
 					PodName:  "task-run-pod",
 				},
 			},
+			Spec: v1.TaskRunSpec{TaskSpec: &v1.TaskSpec{Steps: []v1.Step{{Name: "name", Script: `echo aaa >> /tekton/steps/step-name/artifacts/provenance.json`}}}},
 		},
 		maxResultSize:   1,
 		wantErr:         sidecarlogresults.ErrSizeExceeded,
@@ -191,6 +192,7 @@ func TestSetTaskRunStatusBasedOnStepStatus_sidecar_logs(t *testing.T) {
 					PodName:  "task-run-pod",
 				},
 			},
+			Spec: v1.TaskRunSpec{TaskSpec: &v1.TaskSpec{Steps: []v1.Step{{Name: "name", Script: `echo aaa >> /tekton/steps/step-name/artifacts/provenance.json`}}}},
 		},
 		maxResultSize:   4096,
 		wantErr:         fmt.Errorf("%s", "invalid result \"\": invalid character 'k' in literal false (expecting 'l')"),
@@ -231,7 +233,6 @@ func TestSetTaskRunStatusBasedOnStepStatus_sidecar_logs(t *testing.T) {
 			ts := &v1.TaskSpec{}
 			if c.enableArtifacts {
 				featureFlags.EnableArtifacts = true
-				ts.Steps = []v1.Step{{Name: "name", Script: `echo aaa >> /tekton/steps/step-name/artifacts/provenance.json`}}
 			}
 			ctx := config.ToContext(context.Background(), &config.Config{
 				FeatureFlags: featureFlags,