diff --git a/roles/taskotron/buildslave-configure/tasks/main.yml b/roles/taskotron/buildslave-configure/tasks/main.yml
index c85f593e04..c059b304ad 100644
--- a/roles/taskotron/buildslave-configure/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/taskotron/buildslave-configure/tasks/main.yml
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@
   sudo_user: '{{ item.user }}'
   command: creates={{ item.dir }} buildslave create-slave {{ item.dir }} {{ buildmaster }} buildslave passwd
   with_items:
-    - '{{ slaves|default([user: "", home: "", dir: ""]) }}'
+    - '{{ slaves|default(dict(user: "", home: "", dir: "")) }}'
   when: deployment_type == 'dev'
 
 - name: generate slave config