diff --git a/cargo-dist/src/config.rs b/cargo-dist/src/config.rs
index cfe52b5f5..d3fa2b364 100644
--- a/cargo-dist/src/config.rs
+++ b/cargo-dist/src/config.rs
@@ -243,11 +243,6 @@ pub struct DistMetadata {
     #[serde(rename = "publish-jobs")]
     pub publish_jobs: Option<Vec<PublishStyle>>,
 
-    /// User-supplied extra publish jobs to run in CI
-    #[serde(skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
-    #[serde(rename = "user-publish-jobs")]
-    pub user_publish_jobs: Option<Vec<String>>,
-
     /// Whether to publish prereleases to package managers
     ///
     /// (defaults to false)
@@ -294,7 +289,6 @@ impl DistMetadata {
             default_features: _,
             all_features: _,
             publish_jobs: _,
-            user_publish_jobs: _,
             publish_prereleases: _,
             create_release: _,
             pr_run_mode: _,
@@ -336,7 +330,6 @@ impl DistMetadata {
             default_features,
             all_features,
             publish_jobs,
-            user_publish_jobs,
             publish_prereleases,
             create_release,
             pr_run_mode: _,
@@ -417,9 +410,6 @@ impl DistMetadata {
         if publish_jobs.is_none() {
             *publish_jobs = workspace_config.publish_jobs.clone();
         }
-        if user_publish_jobs.is_none() {
-            *user_publish_jobs = workspace_config.user_publish_jobs.clone();
-        }
 
         // This was historically implemented as extend, but I'm not convinced the
         // inconsistency is worth the inconvenience...
@@ -520,19 +510,48 @@ impl std::fmt::Display for InstallerStyle {
 }
 
 /// The publish jobs we should run
-#[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, Serialize, Deserialize, PartialEq, Eq)]
+#[derive(Clone, Debug, Serialize, PartialEq, Eq)]
 pub enum PublishStyle {
     /// Publish a Homebrew formula to a tap repository
     #[serde(rename = "homebrew")]
     Homebrew,
+    /// User-supplied value
+    User(String),
+}
+
+impl std::str::FromStr for PublishStyle {
+    type Err = DistError;
+    fn from_str(s: &str) -> DistResult<Self> {
+        if s.starts_with('@') {
+            Ok(Self::User(s.strip_prefix('@').unwrap().to_owned()))
+        } else if s == "homebrew" {
+            Ok(Self::Homebrew)
+        } else {
+            Err(DistError::UnrecognizedStyle {
+                style: s.to_owned(),
+            })
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<'de> serde::Deserialize<'de> for PublishStyle {
+    fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> std::result::Result<Self, D::Error>
+    where
+        D: serde::Deserializer<'de>,
+    {
+        use serde::de::Error;
+
+        let path = String::deserialize(deserializer)?;
+        path.parse().map_err(|e| D::Error::custom(format!("{e}")))
+    }
 }
 
 impl std::fmt::Display for PublishStyle {
     fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
-        let string = match self {
-            PublishStyle::Homebrew => "homebrew",
-        };
-        string.fmt(f)
+        match self {
+            PublishStyle::Homebrew => write!(f, "homebrew"),
+            PublishStyle::User(s) => write!(f, "@{s}"),
+        }
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/cargo-dist/src/errors.rs b/cargo-dist/src/errors.rs
index 394f740ba..058e8c57d 100644
--- a/cargo-dist/src/errors.rs
+++ b/cargo-dist/src/errors.rs
@@ -229,6 +229,13 @@ pub enum DistError {
         /// The missing keys
         keys: &'static [&'static str],
     },
+    /// unrecognized style
+    #[error("{style} is not a recognized value")]
+    #[diagnostic(help("Styles that do not come with cargo-dist should be prefixed with an @"))]
+    UnrecognizedStyle {
+        /// Name of the msi
+        style: String,
+    },
 }
 
 impl From<minijinja::Error> for DistError {
diff --git a/cargo-dist/src/init.rs b/cargo-dist/src/init.rs
index d0b7e9f91..d8b41ed28 100644
--- a/cargo-dist/src/init.rs
+++ b/cargo-dist/src/init.rs
@@ -221,7 +221,6 @@ fn get_new_dist_metadata(
             default_features: None,
             all_features: None,
             publish_jobs: None,
-            user_publish_jobs: None,
             publish_prereleases: None,
             create_release: None,
             pr_run_mode: None,
@@ -681,7 +680,6 @@ fn apply_dist_to_metadata(metadata: &mut toml_edit::Item, meta: &DistMetadata) {
         all_features,
         default_features,
         publish_jobs,
-        user_publish_jobs,
         publish_prereleases,
         create_release,
         pr_run_mode,
@@ -842,13 +840,6 @@ fn apply_dist_to_metadata(metadata: &mut toml_edit::Item, meta: &DistMetadata) {
         publish_jobs.as_ref(),
     );
 
-    apply_string_list(
-        table,
-        "user-publish-jobs",
-        "# User-defined publish jobs to run in CI\n",
-        user_publish_jobs.as_ref(),
-    );
-
     apply_optional_value(
         table,
         "publish-prereleases",
diff --git a/cargo-dist/src/tasks.rs b/cargo-dist/src/tasks.rs
index 3addb46be..f19d70abe 100644
--- a/cargo-dist/src/tasks.rs
+++ b/cargo-dist/src/tasks.rs
@@ -650,8 +650,6 @@ impl<'pkg_graph> DistGraphBuilder<'pkg_graph> {
             install_path: _,
             // Only the final value merged into a package_config matters
             publish_jobs: _,
-            // Only the final value merged into a package_config matters
-            user_publish_jobs: _,
             publish_prereleases,
             features,
             default_features: no_default_features,
@@ -705,11 +703,27 @@ impl<'pkg_graph> DistGraphBuilder<'pkg_graph> {
         };
 
         let templates = Templates::new()?;
-        let publish_jobs = workspace_metadata.publish_jobs.clone().unwrap_or(vec![]);
-        let user_publish_jobs = workspace_metadata
-            .user_publish_jobs
+        let publish_jobs: Vec<PublishStyle>;
+        let user_publish_jobs: Vec<PublishStyle>;
+        (publish_jobs, user_publish_jobs) = workspace_metadata
+            .publish_jobs
             .clone()
-            .unwrap_or(vec![]);
+            .unwrap_or(vec![])
+            .into_iter()
+            .partition(|s| !matches!(s, PublishStyle::User(_)));
+        let user_publish_jobs = user_publish_jobs
+            .into_iter()
+            // Remove the @ suffix for later; we only have user jobs at this
+            // point so we no longer need to distinguish
+            .map(|s| {
+                let string = s.to_string();
+                if let Some(stripped) = string.strip_prefix('@') {
+                    stripped.to_owned()
+                } else {
+                    string
+                }
+            })
+            .collect();
         let publish_prereleases = publish_prereleases.unwrap_or(false);
 
         let allow_dirty = if allow_all_dirty {