diff --git a/provider/marathon/marathon_test.go b/provider/marathon/marathon_test.go
index 4c58ab62e..f7ea244af 100644
--- a/provider/marathon/marathon_test.go
+++ b/provider/marathon/marathon_test.go
@@ -93,7 +93,9 @@ func TestMarathonLoadConfigNonAPIErrors(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 				},
 			},
-			expectedBackends: nil,
+			expectedBackends: map[string]*types.Backend{
+				"backend-app": {},
+			},
 		},
 		{
 			desc: "load balancer / circuit breaker labels",
diff --git a/templates/marathon.tmpl b/templates/marathon.tmpl
index e03fd601c..4f342f02c 100644
--- a/templates/marathon.tmpl
+++ b/templates/marathon.tmpl
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 
 {{range $app := $apps}}
 {{range $serviceIndex, $serviceName := getServiceNames $app}}
+[backends."backend{{getBackend $app $serviceName }}"]
 {{ if hasMaxConnLabels $app }}
       [backends."backend{{getBackend $app $serviceName }}".maxconn]
         amount = {{getMaxConnAmount $app }}