diff --git a/cluster/examples/kubernetes/ceph/create-external-cluster-resources.py b/cluster/examples/kubernetes/ceph/create-external-cluster-resources.py
index 60e2f10c1..7f4ca49c0 100644
--- a/cluster/examples/kubernetes/ceph/create-external-cluster-resources.py
+++ b/cluster/examples/kubernetes/ceph/create-external-cluster-resources.py
@@ -344,7 +344,7 @@ class RadosJSON:
                 "data": {
                     "data": self.out_map['ROOK_EXTERNAL_CEPH_MON_DATA'],
                     "maxMonId": "0",
-                    "mapping": {}
+                    "mapping": "{}"
                 }
             },
             {