diff --git a/nf_core/pipelines/lint/files_unchanged.py b/nf_core/pipelines/lint/files_unchanged.py
index c1c3acd31f..4dcab3b657 100644
--- a/nf_core/pipelines/lint/files_unchanged.py
+++ b/nf_core/pipelines/lint/files_unchanged.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import filecmp
 import logging
 import os
+import re
 import shutil
 import tempfile
 from pathlib import Path
@@ -68,7 +69,10 @@ def files_unchanged(self) -> Dict[str, Union[List[str], bool]]:
     could_fix: bool = False
 
     # Check that we have the minimum required config
-    required_pipeline_config = {"manifest.name", "manifest.description", "manifest.author"}
+    required_pipeline_config = {
+        "manifest.name",
+        "manifest.description",
+    }  # TODO: add "manifest.contributors" when minimum nextflow version is >=24.10.0
     missing_pipeline_config = required_pipeline_config.difference(self.nf_config)
     if missing_pipeline_config:
         return {"ignored": [f"Required pipeline config not found - {missing_pipeline_config}"]}
@@ -117,10 +121,15 @@ def files_unchanged(self) -> Dict[str, Union[List[str], bool]]:
     tmp_dir.mkdir(parents=True)
 
     # Create a template.yaml file for the pipeline creation
+    if "manifest.author" in self.nf_config:
+        names = self.nf_config["manifest.author"].strip("\"'")
+    if "manifest.contributors" in self.nf_config:
+        contributors = self.nf_config["manifest.contributors"]
+        names = ", ".join(re.findall(r"name:'([^']+)'", contributors))
     template_yaml = {
         "name": short_name,
         "description": self.nf_config["manifest.description"].strip("\"'"),
-        "author": self.nf_config["manifest.author"].strip("\"'"),
+        "author": names,
         "org": prefix,
     }
 
diff --git a/nf_core/pipelines/sync.py b/nf_core/pipelines/sync.py
index 781b4f5f00..14365da3f8 100644
--- a/nf_core/pipelines/sync.py
+++ b/nf_core/pipelines/sync.py
@@ -81,7 +81,11 @@ def __init__(
         self.made_changes = False
         self.make_pr = make_pr
         self.gh_pr_returned_data: Dict = {}
-        self.required_config_vars = ["manifest.name", "manifest.description", "manifest.version", "manifest.author"]
+        self.required_config_vars = [
+            "manifest.name",
+            "manifest.description",
+            "manifest.version",
+        ]  # TODO: add "manifest.contributors" when minimum nextflow version is >=24.10.0
         self.force_pr = force_pr
 
         self.gh_username = gh_username
diff --git a/nf_core/utils.py b/nf_core/utils.py
index 2ac0943c59..27334d473c 100644
--- a/nf_core/utils.py
+++ b/nf_core/utils.py
@@ -1352,8 +1352,10 @@ def load_tools_config(directory: Union[str, Path] = ".") -> Tuple[Optional[Path]
             contributors = wf_config["manifest.contributors"]
             names = re.findall(r"name:'([^']+)'", contributors)
             author_names = ", ".join(names)
-        else:
+        elif "manifest.author" in wf_config:
             author_names = wf_config["manifest.author"].strip("'\"")
+        else:
+            author_names = None
         if nf_core_yaml_config.template is None:
             # The .nf-core.yml file did not contain template information
             nf_core_yaml_config.template = NFCoreTemplateConfig(