diff --git a/plugins/module_utils/_module_container/docker_api.py b/plugins/module_utils/_module_container/docker_api.py
index 40c46400..c9bcede8 100644
--- a/plugins/module_utils/_module_container/docker_api.py
+++ b/plugins/module_utils/_module_container/docker_api.py
@@ -2089,16 +2089,26 @@ def _preprocess_value_ports(
     if "published_ports" not in values:
         return values
     found = False
-    for port_spec in values["published_ports"].values():
-        if port_spec[0] == _DEFAULT_IP_REPLACEMENT_STRING:
-            found = True
-            break
+    for port_specs in values["published_ports"].values():
+        if not isinstance(port_specs, list):
+            port_specs = [port_specs]
+        for port_spec in port_specs:
+            if port_spec[0] == _DEFAULT_IP_REPLACEMENT_STRING:
+                found = True
+                break
     if not found:
         return values
     default_ip = _get_default_host_ip(module, client)
-    for port, port_spec in values["published_ports"].items():
-        if port_spec[0] == _DEFAULT_IP_REPLACEMENT_STRING:
-            values["published_ports"][port] = tuple([default_ip] + list(port_spec[1:]))
+    for port, port_specs in values["published_ports"].items():
+        if isinstance(port_specs, list):
+            for index, port_spec in enumerate(port_specs):
+                if port_spec[0] == _DEFAULT_IP_REPLACEMENT_STRING:
+                    port_specs[index] = tuple([default_ip] + list(port_spec[1:]))
+        else:
+            if port_specs[0] == _DEFAULT_IP_REPLACEMENT_STRING:
+                values["published_ports"][port] = tuple(
+                    [default_ip] + list(port_specs[1:])
+                )
     return values