diff --git a/templates/haproxy_cfg.jinja2 b/templates/haproxy_cfg.jinja2
index bdfb0fca3aa07e66a7a29af7c9a953d1e3f805b6..aa7eac6938f02ae31f2397a9d467e936ea0ad72b 100644
--- a/templates/haproxy_cfg.jinja2
+++ b/templates/haproxy_cfg.jinja2
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ frontend https_in_{{ cert.ip }}
 {% for external in cert.external|default([]) %}
 
 backend backend_{{ external.key }}
-  server server_{{ external.key }} {{ external.server }} check {{ external.options }}
+  server server_{{ external.key }} {{ external.server }} check {{ external.options|default('') }}
 {% endfor %}
 {% endfor %}
 {% if proxy_default_backend not in groups['webserver'] %}