diff --git a/config_defaults.yml b/config_defaults.yml
index def16a6a..616e158e 100644
--- a/config_defaults.yml
+++ b/config_defaults.yml
@@ -509,6 +509,8 @@ Gemfile:
       - gem: racc
         version: '~> 1.4.0'
         condition: "Gem::Requirement.create(['>= 2.7.0', '< 3.0.0']).satisfied_by?(Gem::Version.new(RUBY_VERSION.dup))"
+      - gem: deep_merge
+        version: '~> 1.0'
       - gem: 'voxpupuli-puppet-lint-plugins'
         version: '~> 5.0'
       - gem: 'facterdb'
@@ -516,7 +518,7 @@ Gemfile:
       - gem: 'metadata-json-lint'
         version: '~> 4.0'
       - gem: 'rspec-puppet-facts'
-        version: '~> 2.0'
+        version: '~> 3.0'
       - gem: 'dependency_checker'
         version: '~> 1.0.0'
       - gem: 'parallel_tests'
diff --git a/moduleroot/spec/spec_helper.rb.erb b/moduleroot/spec/spec_helper.rb.erb
index 2d9a8673..2d9e79f3 100644
--- a/moduleroot/spec/spec_helper.rb.erb
+++ b/moduleroot/spec/spec_helper.rb.erb
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@ default_fact_files.each do |f|
   next unless File.exist?(f) && File.readable?(f) && File.size?(f)
 
   begin
-    default_facts.merge!(YAML.safe_load(File.read(f), permitted_classes: [], permitted_symbols: [], aliases: true))
+    require 'deep_merge'
+    default_facts.deep_merge!(YAML.safe_load(File.read(f), permitted_classes: [], permitted_symbols: [], aliases: true))
   rescue StandardError => e
     RSpec.configuration.reporter.message "WARNING: Unable to load #{f}: #{e}"
   end
@@ -35,7 +36,7 @@ end
 
 # read default_facts and merge them over what is provided by facterdb
 default_facts.each do |fact, value|
-  add_custom_fact fact, value
+  add_custom_fact fact, value, merge_facts: true
 end
 
 RSpec.configure do |c|