diff --git a/salt/files/master.d/f_defaults.conf b/salt/files/master.d/f_defaults.conf
index 1f0b562..4ab155f 100644
--- a/salt/files/master.d/f_defaults.conf
+++ b/salt/files/master.d/f_defaults.conf
@@ -529,6 +529,9 @@ external_auth:
 {%- for auth, users in cfg_master['external_auth']|dictsort %}
   {{ auth }}:
 {%- for user, commands in users.items() %}
+{%- if user.startswith('^') %}
+    {{ user }}: {% raw %}'{% endraw %}{{ commands }}{% raw %}'{% endraw %}
+{%- else %}
     {{ user }}:
 {%- for command in commands %}
 {%- if command is mapping %}
@@ -560,6 +563,7 @@ external_auth:
       - {% raw %}'{% endraw %}{{ command }}{% raw %}'{% endraw %}
 {%- endif %}
 {%- endfor -%}
+{%- endif %}
 {%- endfor -%}
 {%- endfor -%}
 {%- endif %}