diff --git a/ansible/roles/cinder/defaults/main.yml b/ansible/roles/cinder/defaults/main.yml
index 9ac0cb8d31..36c8d3c073 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/cinder/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/cinder/defaults/main.yml
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ openstack_cinder_auth: "{{ openstack_auth }}"
 ####################
 cinder_backends:
   - name: "rbd-1"
-    enabled: "{{ enable_ceph | bool and cinder_backend_ceph | bool }}"
+    enabled: "{{ cinder_backend_ceph | bool }}"
   - name: "lvm-1"
     enabled: "{{ enable_cinder_backend_lvm | bool }}"
   - name: "nfs-1"
diff --git a/ansible/roles/cinder/templates/cinder.conf.j2 b/ansible/roles/cinder/templates/cinder.conf.j2
index e4c6001952..410d63312b 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/cinder/templates/cinder.conf.j2
+++ b/ansible/roles/cinder/templates/cinder.conf.j2
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ target_helper = {{ cinder_target_helper }}
 target_protocol = iscsi
 {% endif %}
 
-{% if enable_ceph | bool and cinder_backend_ceph | bool %}
+{% if cinder_backend_ceph | bool %}
 [rbd-1]
 volume_driver = cinder.volume.drivers.rbd.RBDDriver
 volume_backend_name = rbd-1
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/external-ceph-cinder-template-40dc0bc07e717837.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/external-ceph-cinder-template-40dc0bc07e717837.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4d486cd5f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/external-ceph-cinder-template-40dc0bc07e717837.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+---
+upgrade:
+  - |
+    Default behavior for generating cinder.conf template has changed,
+    now cinder.conf with rbd-1 section will be generated when external Ceph
+    functionality is used i.e. cinder_backend_ceph is set to true.
+    Previously it was only included when Kolla-Ansible internal
+    Ceph deployment mechanism was used.