diff --git a/handlers/elasticsearch-templates.yml b/handlers/elasticsearch-templates.yml
index 9c46eed..797ec62 100644
--- a/handlers/elasticsearch-templates.yml
+++ b/handlers/elasticsearch-templates.yml
@@ -10,7 +10,25 @@
   shell: find . -maxdepth 1 -type f | sed "s#\./##" | sed "s/.json//" chdir=/etc/elasticsearch/templates
   register: resultstemplate
 
-#The basic auth details here may not be required - send always if they are defined.  If not needed they will be ignored.
-- name: Install template(s) with auth
-  command: "curl -sL -XPUT http://{{es_api_host}}:{{es_api_port}}/_template/{{item}} -d @/etc/elasticsearch/templates/{{item}}.json {% if es_api_basic_auth_username is defined and es_api_basic_auth_password is defined%}-u {{es_api_basic_auth_username}}:{{es_api_basic_auth_password}}{% endif %}"
-  with_items: "{{ resultstemplate.stdout_lines }}"
\ No newline at end of file
+- name: Install templates without auth
+  uri:
+    url: http://{{es_api_host}}:{{es_api_port}}/_template/{{item}}
+    method: PUT
+    status_code: 200
+    body_format: json
+    body: "{{ lookup('file', '/etc/elasticsearch/templates/'+item+'.json') }}"
+  when: not es_enable_xpack or not es_xpack_features is defined or not '"shield" in es_xpack_features'
+  with_items: "{{ resultstemplate.stdout_lines }}"
+
+- name: Install templates with auth
+  uri:
+    url: http://{{es_api_host}}:{{es_api_port}}/_template/{{item}}
+    method: PUT
+    status_code: 200
+    user: "{{es_api_basic_auth_username}}"
+    password: "{{es_api_basic_auth_password}}"
+    force_basic_auth: yes
+    body_format: json
+    body: "{{ lookup('file', '/etc/elasticsearch/templates/'+item+'.json') }}"
+  when: es_enable_xpack and es_xpack_features is defined and '"shield" in es_xpack_features'
+  with_items: "{{ resultstemplate.stdout_lines }}"
diff --git a/test/integration/helpers/serverspec/xpack_spec.rb b/test/integration/helpers/serverspec/xpack_spec.rb
index 57117e6..69583ed 100644
--- a/test/integration/helpers/serverspec/xpack_spec.rb
+++ b/test/integration/helpers/serverspec/xpack_spec.rb
@@ -195,6 +195,14 @@ shared_examples 'xpack::init' do |es_version|
     end
   end
 
+  #This is possibly subject to format changes in the response across versions so may fail in the future
+  describe 'Template Contents Correct' do
+    it 'should be reported as being installed', :retry => 3, :retry_wait => 10 do
+      command = command('curl -s "localhost:9200/_template/basic" -u es_admin:changeMe | md5sum')
+      expect(command.stdout).to match(/153b1a45daf48ccee80395b85c61e332/)
+    end
+  end
+
   #Test contents of Elasticsearch.yml file
   describe file('/etc/elasticsearch/shield_node/elasticsearch.yml') do
     it { should contain 'shield.authc.realms.file1.order: 0' }