diff --git a/src/core/processing/models/qgsprocessingmodelalgorithm.cpp b/src/core/processing/models/qgsprocessingmodelalgorithm.cpp
index 646a325eb43..59955b42a06 100644
--- a/src/core/processing/models/qgsprocessingmodelalgorithm.cpp
+++ b/src/core/processing/models/qgsprocessingmodelalgorithm.cpp
@@ -531,9 +531,7 @@ QMap<QString, QgsProcessingModelAlgorithm::VariableDefinition> QgsProcessingMode
     if ( !layer )
       layer = QgsProcessingUtils::mapLayerFromString( value.toString(), context );
 
-    // TODO: should I tag variable name with type? e.g. %1_maplayer
-    variables.insert( safeName( QStringLiteral( "%1" ).arg( name ) ), VariableDefinition( value, source, description ) );
-
+    variables.insert( safeName( QStringLiteral( "%1" ).arg( name ) ), VariableDefinition( QVariant::fromValue( layer ), source, description ) );
     variables.insert( safeName( QStringLiteral( "%1_minx" ).arg( name ) ), VariableDefinition( layer ? layer->extent().xMinimum() : QVariant(), source, QObject::tr( "Minimum X of %1" ).arg( description ) ) );
     variables.insert( safeName( QStringLiteral( "%1_miny" ).arg( name ) ), VariableDefinition( layer ? layer->extent().yMinimum() : QVariant(), source, QObject::tr( "Minimum Y of %1" ).arg( description ) ) );
     variables.insert( safeName( QStringLiteral( "%1_maxx" ).arg( name ) ), VariableDefinition( layer ? layer->extent().xMaximum() : QVariant(), source, QObject::tr( "Maximum X of %1" ).arg( description ) ) );