diff --git a/cosmos/converter.py b/cosmos/converter.py
index 5bf99cac8..524864aa9 100644
--- a/cosmos/converter.py
+++ b/cosmos/converter.py
@@ -229,8 +229,8 @@ def __init__(
 
         validate_changed_config_paths(execution_config, project_config, render_config)
 
-        env_vars = copy.deepcopy(project_config.env_vars or operator_args.get("env"))
-        dbt_vars = copy.deepcopy(project_config.dbt_vars or operator_args.get("vars"))
+        env_vars = project_config.env_vars or operator_args.get("env")
+        dbt_vars = project_config.dbt_vars or operator_args.get("vars")
 
         if execution_config.execution_mode != ExecutionMode.VIRTUALENV and execution_config.virtualenv_dir is not None:
             logger.warning(
diff --git a/dev/dags/example_taskflow.py b/dev/dags/example_taskflow.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e75be2adc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev/dags/example_taskflow.py
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+import os
+from datetime import datetime
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from airflow.decorators import dag, task
+
+from cosmos import DbtTaskGroup, ProfileConfig, ProjectConfig
+from cosmos.profiles import PostgresUserPasswordProfileMapping
+
+DEFAULT_DBT_ROOT_PATH = Path(__file__).parent / "dbt"
+DBT_ROOT_PATH = Path(os.getenv("DBT_ROOT_PATH", DEFAULT_DBT_ROOT_PATH))
+
+
+profile_config = ProfileConfig(
+    profile_name="default",
+    target_name="dev",
+    profile_mapping=PostgresUserPasswordProfileMapping(
+        conn_id="example_conn",
+        profile_args={"schema": "public"},
+        disable_event_tracking=True,
+    ),
+)
+
+
+@task(task_id="build_partial_dbt_env_vars_operator")
+def build_partial_dbt_env():
+    return {"ENV_VAR_NAME": "value", "ENV_VAR_NAME_2": False}
+
+
+@dag(
+    schedule_interval="@daily",
+    start_date=datetime(2024, 1, 1),
+    catchup=False,
+)
+def example_taskflow() -> None:
+    DbtTaskGroup(
+        group_id="transform_task_group",
+        project_config=ProjectConfig(
+            dbt_project_path=DBT_ROOT_PATH / "jaffle_shop",
+            manifest_path=DBT_ROOT_PATH / "jaffle_shop" / "target" / "manifest.json",
+            env_vars=build_partial_dbt_env(),
+        ),
+        profile_config=profile_config,
+        operator_args={"install_deps": True},
+    )
+
+
+example_taskflow()