Puppet epp not working with parameters on version 4.8

Hello,

We have been using puppet for several years now and up until now we have not tried to use parameters in puppet templates.

I tried to implement a simple example:

<%-| $x, $y, $z='this is a default value' |-%>

However, each time I try to validate it or put it in use in our Dev environment, I get this error:
Error: Syntax error at '|' at puppet/modules/<module_name>/templates/<template_name>.conf.epp:111:4
Error: Errors while validating epp

I try to validate the template with:
puppet epp validate <template_name>

And use the template in a class with the following code:

  file { '<file>':

    ensure  => file,

    content => epp('profile/<module>/<file>.conf.epp')

  }

I have been troubleshooting this issue but I cannot see any error made on my side. It is as if puppet does not realizes the syntax.

Any help will be appreciated.