MQTT templates outside automations after payload_template deprecation

payload_template for the mqtt.publish action is deprecated. The deprecation warning says

In automations templates are supported natively.

What about outside of automations?

I have a button card like

type: button
tap_action:
 action: call-service
 service: mqtt.publish
 service_data:
   topic: <the topic>
   payload_template: |
   {{ 
     <template code>
   }}

That works, but doesn’t when I change payload_template to payload.

Any ideas?