diff --git a/environments/puppet-ceph-external.yaml b/environments/puppet-ceph-external.yaml
index 19cca6570d..06e4f7aad7 100644
--- a/environments/puppet-ceph-external.yaml
+++ b/environments/puppet-ceph-external.yaml
@@ -2,9 +2,12 @@
 # use of an externally managed Ceph cluster.
 resource_registry:
   OS::TripleO::Services::CephExternal: ../puppet/services/ceph-external.yaml
+  OS::TripleO::Services::CephMon: OS::Heat::None
+  OS::TripleO::Services::CephClient: OS::Heat::None
+  OS::TripleO::Services::CephOSD: OS::Heat::None
 
 parameter_defaults:
-  # NOTE: These example parameters are required when using Ceph External
+  # NOTE: These example parameters are required when using CephExternal
   #CephClusterFSID: '4b5c8c0a-ff60-454b-a1b4-9747aa737d19'
   #CephClientKey: 'AQDLOh1VgEp6FRAAFzT7Zw+Y9V6JJExQAsRnRQ=='
   #CephExternalMonHost: '172.16.1.7, 172.16.1.8'
@@ -26,3 +29,6 @@ parameter_defaults:
 
   # finally we disable the Cinder LVM backend
   CinderEnableIscsiBackend: false
+
+  # Backward compatibility setting, will be removed in the future
+  CephAdminKey: ''
diff --git a/puppet/services/ceph-base.yaml b/puppet/services/ceph-base.yaml
index 415b77b61f..a4b1653ab0 100644
--- a/puppet/services/ceph-base.yaml
+++ b/puppet/services/ceph-base.yaml
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@ description: >
   Ceph base service. Shared by all Ceph services.
 
 parameters:
+  # NOTE(gfidente): needs a default to cope with external Ceph deployments were we don't pass (and need) an Admin key
   CephAdminKey:
+    default: ''
     description: The Ceph admin client key. Can be created with ceph-authtool --gen-print-key.
     type: string
     hidden: true