diff --git a/netjsonconfig/utils.py b/netjsonconfig/utils.py
index de9a08bf9..c91feeab8 100644
--- a/netjsonconfig/utils.py
+++ b/netjsonconfig/utils.py
@@ -22,9 +22,8 @@ def merge_config(template, config, list_identifiers=None):
     """
     result = deepcopy(template)
     for key, value in config.items():
-        if isinstance(value, dict):
-            node = result.get(key, OrderedDict())
-            result[key] = merge_config(node, value)
+        if isinstance(value, dict) and isinstance(result.get(key), dict):
+            result[key] = merge_config(result.get(key), value, list_identifiers)
         elif isinstance(value, list) and isinstance(result.get(key), list):
             result[key] = merge_list(result[key], value, list_identifiers)
         else:
diff --git a/tests/openwrt/test_default.py b/tests/openwrt/test_default.py
index 9a7eb3eaa..b5e487b20 100644
--- a/tests/openwrt/test_default.py
+++ b/tests/openwrt/test_default.py
@@ -251,3 +251,28 @@ def test_render_invalid_uci_name(self):
 """
         )
         self.assertEqual(o.render(), expected)
+
+    def test_merge_invalid_format(self):
+        invalid = {
+            "dhcp": {
+                "lan": {
+                    "interface": "lan",
+                    "start": 100,
+                    "limit": 150,
+                    "leasetime": "12h",
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        valid = {
+            "dhcp": [
+                {
+                    "dhcpv6": "disabled",
+                    "ignore": True,
+                    "ra": "disabled",
+                    "config_value": "lan",
+                    "config_name": "dhcp",
+                }
+            ]
+        }
+        o = OpenWrt({}, templates=[valid, invalid])
+        o.validate()