diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index d8231e0197..bc4805ed71 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -32,6 +32,9 @@ Fixed
 * Fix and reenable prance-based openapi spec validation, but make our custom ``x-api-model`` validation optional as the spec is out-of-date. #5709
   Contributed by @cognifloyd
 
+* Fixed generation of `st2.conf.sample` to show correct syntax for `[sensorcontainer].partition_provider` (space separated `key:value` pairs). #5710
+  Contributed by @cognifloyd
+
 Added
 ~~~~~
 
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 2c78a90b2b..1294243f0b 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -317,10 +317,7 @@ configgen: requirements .configgen
 	@echo
 	@echo "================== config gen ===================="
 	@echo
-	echo "# Sample config which contains all the available options which the corresponding descriptions" > conf/st2.conf.sample;
-	echo "# Note: This file is automatically generated using tools/config_gen.py - DO NOT UPDATE MANUALLY" >> conf/st2.conf.sample
-	echo "" >> conf/st2.conf.sample
-	. $(VIRTUALENV_DIR)/bin/activate; python ./tools/config_gen.py >> conf/st2.conf.sample;
+	. $(VIRTUALENV_DIR)/bin/activate; python ./tools/config_gen.py > conf/st2.conf.sample;
 
 .PHONY: schemasgen
 schemasgen: requirements .schemasgen
diff --git a/conf/st2.conf.sample b/conf/st2.conf.sample
index 20f4e3ac5c..5450a9e4d1 100644
--- a/conf/st2.conf.sample
+++ b/conf/st2.conf.sample
@@ -278,7 +278,7 @@ version = 4
 # location of the logging.conf file
 logging = /etc/st2/logging.sensorcontainer.conf
 # Provider of sensor node partition config.
-partition_provider = {'name': 'default'}
+partition_provider = name:default
 # name of the sensor node.
 sensor_node_name = sensornode1
 # Run in a single sensor mode where parent process exits when a sensor crashes / dies. This is useful in environments where partitioning, sensor process life cycle and failover is handled by a 3rd party service such as kubernetes.
diff --git a/tools/config_gen.py b/tools/config_gen.py
index aeb792e045..aeba38ff0e 100755
--- a/tools/config_gen.py
+++ b/tools/config_gen.py
@@ -77,6 +77,11 @@
     "webui": {"webui_base_url": "https://localhost"},
 }
 
+INIT_COMMENT = """
+# Sample config which contains all the available options which the corresponding descriptions
+# Note: This file is automatically generated using tools/config_gen.py - DO NOT UPDATE MANUALLY
+""".strip()
+
 COMMON_AUTH_OPTIONS_COMMENT = """
 # Common option - options below apply in both scenarios - when auth service is running as a WSGI
 # service (e.g. under Apache or Nginx) and when it's running in the standalone mode.
@@ -170,6 +175,10 @@ def _print_options(opt_group, options):
                 value = ""
 
             value += " # comma separated list allowed here."
+        elif isinstance(opt.default, dict):
+            # this is for [sensorcontainer].partition_provider which
+            # is a generic cfg.Opt(type=types.Dict(value_type=types.String())
+            value = " ".join([f"{k}:{v}" for k, v in opt.default.items()])
         else:
             value = opt.default
 
@@ -186,6 +195,8 @@ def _print_options(opt_group, options):
 
 
 def main(args):
+    print(INIT_COMMENT)
+    print("")
     opt_groups = {}
     for config in CONFIGS:
         mod = _import_config(config)