diff --git a/salt/logstash/config.sls b/salt/logstash/config.sls
index a661e96cc..1c5b6e9e2 100644
--- a/salt/logstash/config.sls
+++ b/salt/logstash/config.sls
@@ -82,7 +82,11 @@ ls_custom_pipeline_conf_{{assigned_pipeline}}_{{pipeline}}:
 
 {% for assigned_pipeline in ASSIGNED_PIPELINES %}
 {# a blank per-pipeline setting falls back to the global logstash.yml value #}
-{% set PIPELINE_OVERRIDES = LOGSTASH_MERGED.get('pipeline_settings', {}).get(assigned_pipeline, {}) %}
+{% set PARSED_OVERRIDES = LOGSTASH_MERGED.get('pipeline_settings', {}).get(assigned_pipeline, {}) %}
+{% if PARSED_OVERRIDES is not mapping %}
+{%   do salt.log.warning('logstash: ignoring malformed pipeline_settings for pipeline ' ~ assigned_pipeline ~ '; expected a set of settings') %}
+{% endif %}
+{% set PIPELINE_OVERRIDES = PARSED_OVERRIDES if PARSED_OVERRIDES is mapping else {} %}
 {% set THREADS = PIPELINE_OVERRIDES.get('pipeline_x_workers') or LOGSTASH_MERGED.config.pipeline_x_workers %}
 {% set BATCH = PIPELINE_OVERRIDES.get('pipeline_x_batch_x_size') or LOGSTASH_MERGED.config.pipeline_x_batch_x_size %}
     {% for CONFIGFILE in LOGSTASH_MERGED.defined_pipelines[assigned_pipeline] %}