diff --git a/newsfragments/fix_external_network_name_dict.bugfix b/newsfragments/fix_external_network_name_dict.bugfix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d21c8277
--- /dev/null
+++ b/newsfragments/fix_external_network_name_dict.bugfix
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix external networks with `name:` key being ignored, causing `podman-compose` to look up the wrong (auto-prefixed) network name instead of the explicitly provided one.
diff --git a/podman_compose.py b/podman_compose.py
index 307804b9..69af58ad 100755
--- a/podman_compose.py
+++ b/podman_compose.py
@@ -1296,7 +1296,7 @@ def get_net_args_from_networks(compose: PodmanCompose, cnt: dict[str, Any]) -> l
     for net_, net_config_ in multiple_nets.items():
         net_desc = compose.networks.get(net_) or {}
         is_ext = net_desc.get("external")
-        ext_desc: dict[str, Any] = is_ext if isinstance(is_ext, str) else {}  # type: ignore[assignment]
+        ext_desc: dict[str, Any] = is_ext if isinstance(is_ext, dict) else {}  # type: ignore[assignment]
         default_net_name = default_network_name_for_project(compose, net_, is_ext)  # type: ignore[arg-type]
         net_name = ext_desc.get("name") or net_desc.get("name") or default_net_name
 
diff --git a/tests/integration/external_network_name/__init__.py b/tests/integration/external_network_name/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/tests/integration/external_network_name/docker-compose.yml b/tests/integration/external_network_name/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..599574c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/external_network_name/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+services:
+  web:
+    image: nopush/podman-compose-test
+    command: ["dumb-init", "/bin/busybox", "httpd", "-f", "-p", "8123", "-h", "/tmp/"]
+    networks:
+      - backend_net
+networks:
+  backend_net:
+    external:
+      name: external_network_name_backend
diff --git a/tests/integration/external_network_name/test_external_network_name.py b/tests/integration/external_network_name/test_external_network_name.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b102374a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/external_network_name/test_external_network_name.py
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+
+import os
+import unittest
+
+from tests.integration.test_utils import RunSubprocessMixin
+from tests.integration.test_utils import podman_compose_path
+from tests.integration.test_utils import test_path
+
+
+def compose_yaml_path() -> str:
+    return os.path.join(os.path.join(test_path(), "external_network_name"), "docker-compose.yml")
+
+
+class TestExternalNetworkName(unittest.TestCase, RunSubprocessMixin):
+    def test_external_network_with_name(self) -> None:
+        # Pre-create the external network
+        self.run_subprocess_assert_returncode(
+            ["podman", "network", "create", "external_network_name_backend"],
+        )
+        try:
+            self.run_subprocess_assert_returncode(
+                [podman_compose_path(), "-f", compose_yaml_path(), "up", "-d"],
+            )
+
+            container_id_out, _ = self.run_subprocess_assert_returncode(
+                [
+                    podman_compose_path(),
+                    "-f",
+                    compose_yaml_path(),
+                    "ps",
+                    "--format",
+                    '{{.ID}}',
+                ],
+            )
+            container_id = container_id_out.decode('utf-8').split('\n')[0]
+            output, _ = self.run_subprocess_assert_returncode(
+                [
+                    "podman",
+                    "inspect",
+                    container_id,
+                    "--format",
+                    "{{range $key, $value := .NetworkSettings.Networks }}{{ $key }}\n{{ end }}",
+                ],
+            )
+            self.assertEqual(output.decode('utf-8').strip(), "external_network_name_backend")
+        finally:
+            self.run_subprocess_assert_returncode([
+                podman_compose_path(),
+                "-f",
+                compose_yaml_path(),
+                "down",
+                "-t",
+                "0",
+            ])
+            self.run_subprocess_assert_returncode(
+                ["podman", "network", "rm", "-f", "external_network_name_backend"],
+            )
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_get_net_args.py b/tests/unit/test_get_net_args.py
index 05205abf..f2e5fc3d 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_get_net_args.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_get_net_args.py
@@ -326,3 +326,33 @@ def test_network__mode_service(self) -> None:
         container["network_mode"] = "service:service_2"
 
         self.assertEqual(get_net_args(compose, container), ["--network=container:container_2"])
+
+    def test_external_network_with_name_dict(self) -> None:
+        """external: name: custom-network should use the custom name, not the prefixed one."""
+        compose = get_networked_compose(num_networks=1)
+        compose.networks["net0"] = {
+            "external": {"name": "my-external-net"},
+        }
+        compose.default_net = None
+        container = get_minimal_container()
+        container["networks"] = {"net0": {}}
+
+        self.assertEqual(
+            get_net_args(compose, container),
+            ["--network=my-external-net:alias=service_name"],
+        )
+
+    def test_external_network_bool_true(self) -> None:
+        """external: true should use the un-prefixed compose key as the network name."""
+        compose = get_networked_compose(num_networks=1)
+        compose.networks["net0"] = {
+            "external": True,
+        }
+        compose.default_net = None
+        container = get_minimal_container()
+        container["networks"] = {"net0": {}}
+
+        self.assertEqual(
+            get_net_args(compose, container),
+            ["--network=net0:alias=service_name"],
+        )