diff --git a/advanced/lighttpd.conf.debian b/advanced/lighttpd.conf.debian
index 74761303..f57bad2d 100644
--- a/advanced/lighttpd.conf.debian
+++ b/advanced/lighttpd.conf.debian
@@ -67,9 +67,8 @@ mimetype.assign = (
     ".woff2" => "font/woff2"
 )
 
-# Add user chosen options held in external file
-# This uses include_shell instead of an include wildcard for compatibility
-include_shell "cat external.conf 2>/dev/null"
+# Add user chosen options held in (optional) external file
+include "external*.conf"
 
 # default listening port for IPv6 falls back to the IPv4 port
 include_shell "/usr/share/lighttpd/use-ipv6.pl " + server.port
diff --git a/advanced/lighttpd.conf.fedora b/advanced/lighttpd.conf.fedora
index 7a6a39c5..34056672 100644
--- a/advanced/lighttpd.conf.fedora
+++ b/advanced/lighttpd.conf.fedora
@@ -68,9 +68,8 @@ mimetype.assign = (
     ".woff2" => "font/woff2"
 )
 
-# Add user chosen options held in external file
-# This uses include_shell instead of an include wildcard for compatibility
-include_shell "cat external.conf 2>/dev/null"
+# Add user chosen options held in (optional) external file
+include "external*.conf"
 
 # default listening port for IPv6 falls back to the IPv4 port
 #include_shell "/usr/share/lighttpd/use-ipv6.pl " + server.port
diff --git a/automated install/basic-install.sh b/automated install/basic-install.sh
index 50ce584d..7462e2f0 100755
--- a/automated install/basic-install.sh	
+++ b/automated install/basic-install.sh	
@@ -1412,10 +1412,6 @@ installConfigs() {
         fi
         # and copy in the config file Pi-hole needs
         install -D -m 644 -T ${PI_HOLE_LOCAL_REPO}/advanced/${LIGHTTPD_CFG} "${lighttpdConfig}"
-        # Make sure the external.conf file exists, as lighttpd v1.4.50 crashes without it
-        if [ ! -f /etc/lighttpd/external.conf ]; then
-            install -m 644 /dev/null /etc/lighttpd/external.conf
-        fi
         # If there is a custom block page in the html/pihole directory, replace 404 handler in lighttpd config
         if [[ -f "${PI_HOLE_404_DIR}/custom.php" ]]; then
             sed -i 's/^\(server\.error-handler-404\s*=\s*\).*$/\1"\/pihole\/custom\.php"/' "${lighttpdConfig}"