diff --git a/kogito-serverless-workflow/kogito-jq-expression/src/main/java/org/kie/kogito/expr/jq/JqExpression.java b/kogito-serverless-workflow/kogito-jq-expression/src/main/java/org/kie/kogito/expr/jq/JqExpression.java
index 9d8c1676658..8039176cfe9 100644
--- a/kogito-serverless-workflow/kogito-jq-expression/src/main/java/org/kie/kogito/expr/jq/JqExpression.java
+++ b/kogito-serverless-workflow/kogito-jq-expression/src/main/java/org/kie/kogito/expr/jq/JqExpression.java
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
 import org.kie.kogito.jackson.utils.PrefixJsonNode;
 import org.kie.kogito.process.expr.Expression;
 import org.kie.kogito.serverless.workflow.utils.ExpressionHandlerUtils;
-import org.kie.kogito.serverless.workflow.utils.JsonNodeContext;
+import org.kie.kogito.serverless.workflow.utils.VariablesHelper;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
@@ -207,6 +207,7 @@ private Scope getScope(KogitoProcessContext processInfo) {
         childScope.setValue(ExpressionHandlerUtils.SECRET_MAGIC, new PrefixJsonNode<>(ExpressionHandlerUtils::getOptionalSecret));
         childScope.setValue(ExpressionHandlerUtils.CONTEXT_MAGIC, new FunctionJsonNode(ExpressionHandlerUtils.getContextFunction(processInfo)));
         childScope.setValue(ExpressionHandlerUtils.CONST_MAGIC, ExpressionHandlerUtils.getConstants(processInfo));
+        VariablesHelper.getAdditionalVariables(processInfo).forEach(childScope::setValue);
         return childScope;
     }
 
@@ -215,8 +216,8 @@ private <T> T eval(JsonNode context, Class<T> returnClass, KogitoProcessContext
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unable to evaluate content " + context + " using expr " + expr, validationError);
         }
         TypedOutput output = output(returnClass);
-        try (JsonNodeContext jsonNode = JsonNodeContext.from(context, processInfo)) {
-            internalExpr.apply(getScope(processInfo), jsonNode.getNode(), output);
+        try {
+            internalExpr.apply(getScope(processInfo), context, output);
             return JsonObjectUtils.convertValue(output.getResult(), returnClass);
         } catch (JsonQueryException e) {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unable to evaluate content " + context + " using expr " + expr, e);
diff --git a/kogito-serverless-workflow/kogito-jsonpath-expression/src/main/java/org/kie/kogito/expr/jsonpath/JsonPathExpression.java b/kogito-serverless-workflow/kogito-jsonpath-expression/src/main/java/org/kie/kogito/expr/jsonpath/JsonPathExpression.java
index 57952675962..5c6ed26968f 100644
--- a/kogito-serverless-workflow/kogito-jsonpath-expression/src/main/java/org/kie/kogito/expr/jsonpath/JsonPathExpression.java
+++ b/kogito-serverless-workflow/kogito-jsonpath-expression/src/main/java/org/kie/kogito/expr/jsonpath/JsonPathExpression.java
@@ -18,15 +18,17 @@
  */
 package org.kie.kogito.expr.jsonpath;
 
+import java.util.Map;
+
 import org.kie.kogito.internal.process.runtime.KogitoProcessContext;
 import org.kie.kogito.jackson.utils.JsonObjectUtils;
 import org.kie.kogito.process.expr.Expression;
 import org.kie.kogito.serverless.workflow.utils.ExpressionHandlerUtils;
-import org.kie.kogito.serverless.workflow.utils.JsonNodeContext;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonNode;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.node.ArrayNode;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.node.NullNode;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.node.ObjectNode;
 import com.jayway.jsonpath.Configuration;
 import com.jayway.jsonpath.DocumentContext;
 import com.jayway.jsonpath.JsonPath;
@@ -61,24 +63,28 @@ private Configuration getConfiguration(KogitoProcessContext context) {
                 .build();
     }
 
+    private static boolean isContextAware(JsonNode context, Map<String, JsonNode> additionalVars) {
+        return !additionalVars.isEmpty() && context instanceof ObjectNode;
+    }
+
     private <T> T eval(JsonNode context, Class<T> returnClass, KogitoProcessContext processInfo) {
-        try (JsonNodeContext jsonNode = JsonNodeContext.from(context, processInfo)) {
-            Configuration jsonPathConfig = getConfiguration(processInfo);
-            DocumentContext parsedContext = JsonPath.using(jsonPathConfig).parse(jsonNode.getNode());
-            if (String.class.isAssignableFrom(returnClass)) {
-                StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
-                // valid json path is $. or $[
-                for (String part : expr.split("((?=\\$\\.|\\$\\[))")) {
-                    JsonNode partResult = parsedContext.read(part, JsonNode.class);
-                    sb.append(partResult.isTextual() ? partResult.asText() : partResult.toPrettyString());
-                }
-                return (T) sb.toString();
-            } else {
-                Object result = parsedContext.read(expr);
-                return Boolean.class.isAssignableFrom(returnClass) && result instanceof ArrayNode ? (T) Boolean.valueOf(!((ArrayNode) result).isEmpty())
-                        : JsonObjectUtils.convertValue(jsonPathConfig.mappingProvider().map(result, returnClass, jsonPathConfig), returnClass);
+
+        Configuration jsonPathConfig = getConfiguration(processInfo);
+        DocumentContext parsedContext = JsonPath.using(jsonPathConfig).parse(context);
+        if (String.class.isAssignableFrom(returnClass)) {
+            StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+            // valid json path is $. or $[
+            for (String part : expr.split("((?=\\$\\.|\\$\\[))")) {
+                JsonNode partResult = parsedContext.read(part, JsonNode.class);
+                sb.append(partResult.isTextual() ? partResult.asText() : partResult.toPrettyString());
             }
+            return (T) sb.toString();
+        } else {
+            Object result = parsedContext.read(expr);
+            return Boolean.class.isAssignableFrom(returnClass) && result instanceof ArrayNode ? (T) Boolean.valueOf(!((ArrayNode) result).isEmpty())
+                    : JsonObjectUtils.convertValue(jsonPathConfig.mappingProvider().map(result, returnClass, jsonPathConfig), returnClass);
         }
+
     }
 
     private void assign(JsonNode context, Object value, KogitoProcessContext processInfo) {
diff --git a/kogito-serverless-workflow/kogito-jsonpath-expression/src/main/java/org/kie/kogito/expr/jsonpath/WorkflowJacksonJsonNodeJsonProvider.java b/kogito-serverless-workflow/kogito-jsonpath-expression/src/main/java/org/kie/kogito/expr/jsonpath/WorkflowJacksonJsonNodeJsonProvider.java
index f423bc5c9eb..7a254728575 100644
--- a/kogito-serverless-workflow/kogito-jsonpath-expression/src/main/java/org/kie/kogito/expr/jsonpath/WorkflowJacksonJsonNodeJsonProvider.java
+++ b/kogito-serverless-workflow/kogito-jsonpath-expression/src/main/java/org/kie/kogito/expr/jsonpath/WorkflowJacksonJsonNodeJsonProvider.java
@@ -18,21 +18,26 @@
  */
 package org.kie.kogito.expr.jsonpath;
 
+import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.function.Function;
 
 import org.kie.kogito.internal.process.runtime.KogitoProcessContext;
 import org.kie.kogito.jackson.utils.FunctionBaseJsonNode;
 import org.kie.kogito.jackson.utils.PrefixJsonNode;
 import org.kie.kogito.serverless.workflow.utils.ExpressionHandlerUtils;
+import org.kie.kogito.serverless.workflow.utils.VariablesHelper;
 
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonNode;
 import com.jayway.jsonpath.spi.json.JacksonJsonNodeJsonProvider;
 
 public class WorkflowJacksonJsonNodeJsonProvider extends JacksonJsonNodeJsonProvider {
 
     private KogitoProcessContext context;
+    private Map<String, JsonNode> variables;
 
     public WorkflowJacksonJsonNodeJsonProvider(KogitoProcessContext context) {
         this.context = context;
+        this.variables = VariablesHelper.getAdditionalVariables(context);
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -50,7 +55,7 @@ public Object getMapValue(Object obj, String key) {
                 case "$" + ExpressionHandlerUtils.CONST_MAGIC:
                     return ExpressionHandlerUtils.getConstants(context);
                 default:
-                    return super.getMapValue(obj, key);
+                    return variables.containsKey(key) ? variables.get(key) : super.getMapValue(obj, key);
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/kogito-serverless-workflow/kogito-serverless-workflow-builder/src/main/java/org/kie/kogito/serverless/workflow/parser/handlers/CompositeContextNodeHandler.java b/kogito-serverless-workflow/kogito-serverless-workflow-builder/src/main/java/org/kie/kogito/serverless/workflow/parser/handlers/CompositeContextNodeHandler.java
index d5b473bef8c..755f00e21aa 100644
--- a/kogito-serverless-workflow/kogito-serverless-workflow-builder/src/main/java/org/kie/kogito/serverless/workflow/parser/handlers/CompositeContextNodeHandler.java
+++ b/kogito-serverless-workflow/kogito-serverless-workflow-builder/src/main/java/org/kie/kogito/serverless/workflow/parser/handlers/CompositeContextNodeHandler.java
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 import org.kie.kogito.serverless.workflow.parser.FunctionTypeHandlerFactory;
 import org.kie.kogito.serverless.workflow.parser.ParserContext;
 import org.kie.kogito.serverless.workflow.parser.VariableInfo;
-import org.kie.kogito.serverless.workflow.utils.JsonNodeContext;
+import org.kie.kogito.serverless.workflow.utils.VariablesHelper;
 
 import io.serverlessworkflow.api.Workflow;
 import io.serverlessworkflow.api.actions.Action;
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ private TimerNodeFactory<?> createTimerNode(RuleFlowNodeContainerFactory<?, ?> f
                 factory.subProcessNode(parserContext.newId()).name(subFlowRef.getWorkflowId()).processId(subFlowRef.getWorkflowId()).waitForCompletion(true),
                 inputVar,
                 outputVar);
-        JsonNodeContext.getEvalVariables(factory.getNode()).forEach(v -> subProcessNode.inMapping(v.getName(), v.getName()));
+        VariablesHelper.getEvalVariables(factory.getNode()).forEach(v -> subProcessNode.inMapping(v.getName(), v.getName()));
         return subProcessNode;
     }
 
diff --git a/kogito-serverless-workflow/kogito-serverless-workflow-utils/src/main/java/org/kie/kogito/serverless/workflow/utils/JsonNodeContext.java b/kogito-serverless-workflow/kogito-serverless-workflow-utils/src/main/java/org/kie/kogito/serverless/workflow/utils/VariablesHelper.java
similarity index 70%
rename from kogito-serverless-workflow/kogito-serverless-workflow-utils/src/main/java/org/kie/kogito/serverless/workflow/utils/JsonNodeContext.java
rename to kogito-serverless-workflow/kogito-serverless-workflow-utils/src/main/java/org/kie/kogito/serverless/workflow/utils/VariablesHelper.java
index bb98c574cca..92696f7e352 100644
--- a/kogito-serverless-workflow/kogito-serverless-workflow-utils/src/main/java/org/kie/kogito/serverless/workflow/utils/JsonNodeContext.java
+++ b/kogito-serverless-workflow/kogito-serverless-workflow-utils/src/main/java/org/kie/kogito/serverless/workflow/utils/VariablesHelper.java
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Map.Entry;
-import java.util.Objects;
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 import java.util.stream.Stream;
@@ -41,14 +40,33 @@
 import org.kie.kogito.internal.process.runtime.KogitoNodeInstance;
 import org.kie.kogito.internal.process.runtime.KogitoProcessContext;
 import org.kie.kogito.jackson.utils.JsonObjectUtils;
+import org.kie.kogito.serverless.workflow.SWFConstants;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonNode;
-import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.node.ObjectNode;
 
-public class JsonNodeContext implements AutoCloseable {
+public class VariablesHelper {
 
-    private final JsonNode jsonNode;
-    private final Set<String> keys;
+    private static final Set<String> PREDEFINED_KEYS = Set.of(SWFConstants.DEFAULT_WORKFLOW_VAR, SWFConstants.INPUT_WORKFLOW_VAR);
+    private static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(VariablesHelper.class);
+
+    private VariablesHelper() {
+    }
+
+    public static Map<String, JsonNode> getAdditionalVariables(KogitoProcessContext context) {
+        Map<String, JsonNode> variables = new HashMap<>();
+        KogitoNodeInstance nodeInstance = context.getNodeInstance();
+        if (nodeInstance != null) {
+            NodeInstanceContainer container = nodeInstance instanceof NodeInstanceContainer ? (NodeInstanceContainer) nodeInstance : nodeInstance.getNodeInstanceContainer();
+            while (container instanceof ContextableInstance) {
+                addVariablesFromContext((ContextableInstance) container, variables);
+                container = container instanceof KogitoNodeInstance ? ((KogitoNodeInstance) container).getNodeInstanceContainer() : null;
+            }
+        }
+        logger.debug("Additional variables for expression evaluation are {}", variables);
+        return variables;
+    }
 
     public static Stream<Variable> getEvalVariables(Node node) {
         if (node instanceof ForEachNode) {
@@ -66,55 +84,23 @@ private static Stream<Variable> getEvalVariables(ContextableInstance containerIn
 
     private static Stream<Variable> getEvalVariables(ContextContainer container) {
         VariableScope variableScope = (VariableScope) container.getDefaultContext(VariableScope.VARIABLE_SCOPE);
-        return variableScope.getVariables().stream().filter(v -> v.getMetaData(Metadata.EVAL_VARIABLE) != null);
-    }
-
-    public static JsonNodeContext from(JsonNode jsonNode, KogitoProcessContext context) {
-        Map<String, JsonNode> map = new HashMap<>();
-        if (jsonNode.isObject()) {
-            ObjectNode objectNode = (ObjectNode) jsonNode;
-            addVariablesFromContext(objectNode, context, map);
-        }
-        return new JsonNodeContext(jsonNode, map.keySet());
+        return variableScope.getVariables().stream().filter(VariablesHelper::isEvalVariable);
     }
 
-    public JsonNode getNode() {
-        return jsonNode;
+    private static boolean isEvalVariable(Variable v) {
+        Object isEval = v.getMetaData(Metadata.EVAL_VARIABLE);
+        return isEval instanceof Boolean ? ((Boolean) isEval).booleanValue() : false;
     }
 
-    private JsonNodeContext(JsonNode jsonNode, Set<String> keys) {
-        this.jsonNode = jsonNode;
-        this.keys = keys;
-    }
-
-    private static void addVariablesFromContext(ObjectNode jsonNode, KogitoProcessContext processInfo, Map<String, JsonNode> variables) {
-        KogitoNodeInstance nodeInstance = processInfo.getNodeInstance();
-        if (nodeInstance != null) {
-            NodeInstanceContainer container = nodeInstance instanceof NodeInstanceContainer ? (NodeInstanceContainer) nodeInstance : nodeInstance.getNodeInstanceContainer();
-            while (container instanceof ContextableInstance) {
-                getVariablesFromContext(jsonNode, (ContextableInstance) container, variables);
-                container = container instanceof KogitoNodeInstance ? ((KogitoNodeInstance) container).getNodeInstanceContainer() : null;
-            }
-        }
-        variables.forEach(jsonNode::set);
-    }
-
-    private static void getVariablesFromContext(ObjectNode jsonNode, ContextableInstance node, Map<String, JsonNode> variables) {
+    private static void addVariablesFromContext(ContextableInstance node, Map<String, JsonNode> variables) {
         VariableScopeInstance variableScope = (VariableScopeInstance) node.getContextInstance(VariableScope.VARIABLE_SCOPE);
         if (variableScope != null) {
             Collection<String> evalVariables = getEvalVariables(node).map(Variable::getName).collect(Collectors.toList());
             for (Entry<String, Object> e : variableScope.getVariables().entrySet()) {
-                if (evalVariables.contains(e.getKey()) || node instanceof WorkflowProcessInstance && !Objects.equals(jsonNode, e.getValue())) {
+                if (evalVariables.contains(e.getKey()) || node instanceof WorkflowProcessInstance && !PREDEFINED_KEYS.contains(e.getKey())) {
                     variables.putIfAbsent(e.getKey(), JsonObjectUtils.fromValue(e.getValue()));
                 }
             }
         }
     }
-
-    @Override
-    public void close() {
-        if (!keys.isEmpty()) {
-            keys.forEach(((ObjectNode) jsonNode)::remove);
-        }
-    }
 }
diff --git a/quarkus/extensions/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-extension/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-integration-test/src/main/resources/forEachCustomType.sw.json b/quarkus/extensions/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-extension/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-integration-test/src/main/resources/forEachCustomType.sw.json
index dd7cd214ade..988e6f29909 100644
--- a/quarkus/extensions/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-extension/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-integration-test/src/main/resources/forEachCustomType.sw.json
+++ b/quarkus/extensions/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-extension/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-integration-test/src/main/resources/forEachCustomType.sw.json
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
           "functionRef": {
             "refName": "division",
             "arguments": {
-              "dividend": ".item",
+              "dividend": "$item",
               "divisor" : ".divisor"
              }
           }, 
diff --git a/quarkus/extensions/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-extension/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-integration-test/src/main/resources/forEachRest.sw.json b/quarkus/extensions/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-extension/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-integration-test/src/main/resources/forEachRest.sw.json
index 72cc34f32d6..04c0c6e3d00 100644
--- a/quarkus/extensions/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-extension/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-integration-test/src/main/resources/forEachRest.sw.json
+++ b/quarkus/extensions/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-extension/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-integration-test/src/main/resources/forEachRest.sw.json
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
           "functionRef": {
             "refName": "division",
             "arguments": {
-              "QUERY_dividend": ".item",
+              "QUERY_dividend": "$item",
               "QUERY_divisor" : ".divisor"
              }
           }, 
diff --git a/quarkus/extensions/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-extension/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-integration-test/src/main/resources/foreach_child.sw.json b/quarkus/extensions/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-extension/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-integration-test/src/main/resources/foreach_child.sw.json
index d1b25583f90..15ce29a016a 100644
--- a/quarkus/extensions/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-extension/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-integration-test/src/main/resources/foreach_child.sw.json
+++ b/quarkus/extensions/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-extension/kogito-quarkus-serverless-workflow-integration-test/src/main/resources/foreach_child.sw.json
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
         {
             "name": "multiply",
             "type": "expression",
-            "operation": ".number*.constant"
+            "operation": "$number*.constant"
         }
     ],
     "states": [