Fix oversights in addressing #5785

This commit catches up on changes introduced by
94d5c1797f1a3b6f5fa9fa4443b977715802a671. I overlooked some details and
this should now fix #5921 as well.

Closes: #5921
Signed-off-by: martin f. krafft <madduck@madduck.net>
Merge pull request #5926 from madduck/ext_pillar_api_fixes_5785

Fix oversights in addressing #5785