diff --git a/.github/workflows/self-scheduled.yml b/.github/workflows/self-scheduled.yml
index d3de9b70e87c..5fb297d5c26c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/self-scheduled.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/self-scheduled.yml
@@ -102,8 +102,10 @@ jobs:
         working-directory: /transformers/tests
         run: |
           if [ "${{ inputs.job }}" = "run_models_gpu" ]; then
-            echo "folder_slices=$(python3 ../utils/split_model_tests.py --subdirs '${{ inputs.subdirs }}' --num_splits ${{ env.NUM_SLICES }})" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-            echo "slice_ids=$(python3 -c 'd = list(range(${{ env.NUM_SLICES }})); print(d)')" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            python3 ../utils/split_model_tests.py --subdirs '${{ inputs.subdirs }}' --num_splits ${{ env.NUM_SLICES }} > folder_slices.txt
+            echo "folder_slices=$(cat folder_slices.txt)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            python3 -c "import ast; folder_slices = ast.literal_eval(open('folder_slices.txt').read()); open('slice_ids.txt', 'w').write(str(list(range(len(folder_slices)))))"
+            echo "slice_ids=$(cat slice_ids.txt)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           elif [ "${{ inputs.job }}" = "run_trainer_and_fsdp_gpu" ]; then
             echo "folder_slices=[['trainer'], ['fsdp']]" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
             echo "slice_ids=[0, 1]" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
diff --git a/utils/split_model_tests.py b/utils/split_model_tests.py
index 344dc5449f35..40a37ab94b13 100644
--- a/utils/split_model_tests.py
+++ b/utils/split_model_tests.py
@@ -81,6 +81,8 @@
     for idx in range(args.num_splits):
         start = end
         end = start + num_jobs_per_splits + (1 if idx < num_jobs % args.num_splits else 0)
-        model_splits.append(d[start:end])
+        # Only add the slice if it is not an empty list
+        if len(d[start:end]) > 0:
+            model_splits.append(d[start:end])
 
     print(model_splits)