diff --git a/metadata.json b/metadata.json
index 264ad99..0190045 100644
--- a/metadata.json
+++ b/metadata.json
@@ -1,77 +1,77 @@
 {
   "name": "puppetlabs-vcsrepo",
   "version": "2.4.0",
   "author": "puppetlabs",
   "summary": "Puppet module providing a type to manage repositories from various version control systems",
   "license": "GPL-2.0+",
   "source": "https://github.com/puppetlabs/puppetlabs-vcsrepo",
   "project_page": "https://github.com/puppetlabs/puppetlabs-vcsrepo",
   "issues_url": "https://tickets.puppetlabs.com/browse/MODULES",
   "dependencies": [
 
   ],
   "operatingsystem_support": [
     {
       "operatingsystem": "RedHat",
       "operatingsystemrelease": [
         "5",
         "6",
         "7"
       ]
     },
     {
       "operatingsystem": "CentOS",
       "operatingsystemrelease": [
         "5",
         "6",
         "7"
       ]
     },
     {
       "operatingsystem": "OracleLinux",
       "operatingsystemrelease": [
         "5",
         "6",
         "7"
       ]
     },
     {
       "operatingsystem": "Scientific",
       "operatingsystemrelease": [
         "6",
         "7"
       ]
     },
     {
       "operatingsystem": "SLES",
       "operatingsystemrelease": [
         "11 SP1",
         "12"
       ]
     },
     {
       "operatingsystem": "Debian",
       "operatingsystemrelease": [
         "8",
         "9"
       ]
     },
     {
       "operatingsystem": "Ubuntu",
       "operatingsystemrelease": [
         "14.04",
         "16.04",
         "18.04"
       ]
     }
   ],
   "requirements": [
     {
       "name": "puppet",
       "version_requirement": ">= 4.7.0 < 7.0.0"
     }
   ],
   "template-url": "https://github.com/puppetlabs/pdk-templates",
-  "template-ref": "heads/master-0-g8fc95db",
+  "template-ref": "heads/master-0-gabccfb1",
   "pdk-version": "1.7.0"
 }
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 5e721b7..a7281d5 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -1,44 +1,44 @@
 require 'puppetlabs_spec_helper/module_spec_helper'
 require 'rspec-puppet-facts'
 
-begin
-  require 'spec_helper_local' if File.file?(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'spec_helper_local.rb'))
-rescue LoadError => loaderror
-  warn "Could not require spec_helper_local: #{loaderror.message}"
-end
+require 'spec_helper_local' if File.file?(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'spec_helper_local.rb'))
 
 include RspecPuppetFacts
 
 default_facts = {
   puppetversion: Puppet.version,
   facterversion: Facter.version,
 }
 
-default_facts_path = File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'default_facts.yml'))
-default_module_facts_path = File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'default_module_facts.yml'))
+default_fact_files = [
+  File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'default_facts.yml')),
+  File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'default_module_facts.yml')),
+]
 
-if File.exist?(default_facts_path) && File.readable?(default_facts_path)
-  default_facts.merge!(YAML.safe_load(File.read(default_facts_path)))
-end
+default_fact_files.each do |f|
+  next unless File.exist?(f) && File.readable?(f) && File.size?(f)
 
-if File.exist?(default_module_facts_path) && File.readable?(default_module_facts_path)
-  default_facts.merge!(YAML.safe_load(File.read(default_module_facts_path)))
+  begin
+    default_facts.merge!(YAML.safe_load(File.read(f)))
+  rescue => e
+    RSpec.configuration.reporter.message "WARNING: Unable to load #{f}: #{e}"
+  end
 end
 
 RSpec.configure do |c|
   c.default_facts = default_facts
   c.before :each do
     # set to strictest setting for testing
     # by default Puppet runs at warning level
     Puppet.settings[:strict] = :warning
   end
 end
 
 def ensure_module_defined(module_name)
   module_name.split('::').reduce(Object) do |last_module, next_module|
     last_module.const_set(next_module, Module.new) unless last_module.const_defined?(next_module)
     last_module.const_get(next_module)
   end
 end
 
 # 'spec_overrides' from sync.yml will appear below this line