diff --git a/ansible/group_vars/all/network b/ansible/group_vars/all/network
index 86f1d497a..109fa90d6 100644
--- a/ansible/group_vars/all/network
+++ b/ansible/group_vars/all/network
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ external_net_names: >
      ['external_net'] }}
 
 # Name of the network used to expose the public OpenStack API endpoints.
-public_net_name: >
+public_net_name: >-
   {{ external_net_names[0]
      if external_net_names | length > 0 else
      None }}
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/fix-default-public-net-name-067338275460b50d.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/fix-default-public-net-name-067338275460b50d.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6b524883c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/fix-default-public-net-name-067338275460b50d.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+fixes:
+  - |
+    Fixes an issue where the default value of ``public_net_name`` included a
+    trailing newline. See `story 2007654
+    <https://storyboard.openstack.org/#!/story/2007654>`__.
+