diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 7db82808..696e2209 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -390,9 +390,19 @@ class Encore {
      *      Encore.addExternals({
      *          jquery: 'jQuery',
      *          react: 'react'
-     *      })
+     *      });
+     *
+     * Or:
+     *
+     *      const nodeExternals = require('webpack-node-externals');
+     *
+     *      Encore.addExternals(
+     *          // add any valid externals you have
+     *          nodeExternals(),
+     *          /^(jquery|\$)$/i
+     *      );
      *
-     * @param {object} externals
+     * @param {*} externals
      *
      * @returns {Encore}
      */
diff --git a/lib/WebpackConfig.js b/lib/WebpackConfig.js
index fe54add2..c7ac8f81 100644
--- a/lib/WebpackConfig.js
+++ b/lib/WebpackConfig.js
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ class WebpackConfig {
         this.providedVariables = {};
         this.configuredFilenames = {};
         this.aliases = {};
-        this.externals = {};
+        this.externals = [];
 
         // Features/Loaders flags
         this.useVersioning = false;
@@ -298,12 +298,12 @@ class WebpackConfig {
         Object.assign(this.aliases, aliases);
     }
 
-    addExternals(externals = {}) {
-        if (typeof externals !== 'object') {
-            throw new Error('Argument 1 to addExternals() must be an object.');
+    addExternals(externals = []) {
+        if (!Array.isArray(externals)) {
+            externals = [externals];
         }
 
-        Object.assign(this.externals, externals);
+        this.externals = this.externals.concat(externals);
     }
 
     enableVersioning(enabled = true) {
diff --git a/lib/config-generator.js b/lib/config-generator.js
index 09400d9e..9004c461 100644
--- a/lib/config-generator.js
+++ b/lib/config-generator.js
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ class ConfigGenerator {
             config.resolve.alias['react-dom'] = 'preact-compat';
         }
 
-        config.externals = Object.assign({}, this.webpackConfig.externals);
+        config.externals = [...this.webpackConfig.externals];
 
         return config;
     }
diff --git a/test/WebpackConfig.js b/test/WebpackConfig.js
index 2bd7e8a3..eeba83f8 100644
--- a/test/WebpackConfig.js
+++ b/test/WebpackConfig.js
@@ -940,24 +940,17 @@ describe('WebpackConfig object', () => {
         it('Adds new externals', () => {
             const config = createConfig();
 
-            expect(config.externals).to.deep.equals({});
+            expect(config.externals).to.deep.equals([]);
 
             config.addExternals({ 'jquery': 'jQuery', 'react': 'react' });
             config.addExternals({ 'lodash': 'lodash' });
+            config.addExternals(/^(jquery|\$)$/i);
 
-            expect(config.externals).to.deep.equals({
-                'jquery': 'jQuery',
-                'react': 'react',
-                'lodash': 'lodash'
-            });
-        });
-
-        it('Calling it with an invalid argument', () => {
-            const config = createConfig();
-
-            expect(() => {
-                config.addExternals('foo');
-            }).to.throw('must be an object');
+            expect(config.externals).to.deep.equals([
+                { 'jquery': 'jQuery', 'react': 'react' },
+                { 'lodash': 'lodash' },
+                /^(jquery|\$)$/i
+            ]);
         });
     });
 
diff --git a/test/config-generator.js b/test/config-generator.js
index 7c97875c..d6b2822e 100644
--- a/test/config-generator.js
+++ b/test/config-generator.js
@@ -471,7 +471,7 @@ describe('The config-generator function', () => {
 
             const actualConfig = configGenerator(config);
 
-            expect(actualConfig.externals).to.deep.equals({});
+            expect(actualConfig.externals).to.deep.equals([]);
         });
 
         it('with addExternals()', () => {
@@ -485,10 +485,10 @@ describe('The config-generator function', () => {
 
             const actualConfig = configGenerator(config);
 
-            expect(actualConfig.externals).to.deep.equals({
+            expect(actualConfig.externals).to.deep.equals([{
                 'jquery': 'jQuery',
                 'react': 'react'
-            });
+            }]);
         });
     });