diff --git a/helm/porthole/templates/job-apply-lifecycle.yaml.tpl b/helm/porthole/templates/job-apply-lifecycle.yaml.tpl
index 3a91131..0aecd23 100644
--- a/helm/porthole/templates/job-apply-lifecycle.yaml.tpl
+++ b/helm/porthole/templates/job-apply-lifecycle.yaml.tpl
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 {{- if and .Values.jobs.applyLifecycle.enabled .Values.minio.enabled -}}
-{{- if or (eq .Values.jobs.applyLifecycle.prefixes.thumbs "") (eq .Values.jobs.applyLifecycle.prefixes.derived "") -}}
+{{- $thumbsPrefix := required "applyLifecycle.prefixes.thumbs is required" .Values.jobs.applyLifecycle.prefixes.thumbs -}}
+{{- $derivedPrefix := required "applyLifecycle.prefixes.derived is required" .Values.jobs.applyLifecycle.prefixes.derived -}}
+{{- if or (eq $thumbsPrefix "") (eq $derivedPrefix "") -}}
 {{- fail "applyLifecycle prefixes must be non-empty" -}}
 {{- end -}}
-{{- if or (eq .Values.jobs.applyLifecycle.prefixes.thumbs "originals/") (eq .Values.jobs.applyLifecycle.prefixes.derived "originals/") -}}
-{{- fail "applyLifecycle prefixes must not target originals/" -}}
+{{- if or (eq $thumbsPrefix "originals/") (eq $derivedPrefix "originals/") (eq $thumbsPrefix "originals") (eq $derivedPrefix "originals") -}}
+{{- fail "applyLifecycle prefixes must not target originals" -}}
 {{- end -}}
 apiVersion: batch/v1
 kind: Job