diff --git a/NEXT_CHANGELOG.md b/NEXT_CHANGELOG.md
index 0f71834ff56..72c22534455 100644
--- a/NEXT_CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/NEXT_CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 
 ### Bundles
 
+* direct: Match UC Auto Upgrade managed property defaults with a wildcard pattern instead of enumerating each key.
+
 ### Dependency updates
 
 ### API Changes
diff --git a/bundle/direct/bundle_plan_test.go b/bundle/direct/bundle_plan_test.go
index d94fdb3b416..22db70ef62f 100644
--- a/bundle/direct/bundle_plan_test.go
+++ b/bundle/direct/bundle_plan_test.go
@@ -77,14 +77,11 @@ func TestShouldSkipBackendDefault_ManagedPropertiesOnly(t *testing.T) {
 	// Rules mirror the schemas backend_defaults in resources.yml, but the test is
 	// deliberately self-contained so that edits to resources.yml don't break it.
 	// The real wiring is covered by acceptance/bundle/resources/schemas/drift.
-	rowTracking, err := structpath.ParsePattern("properties['unity.catalog.managed.delta.defaults.delta.enableRowTracking']")
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	catalogManaged, err := structpath.ParsePattern("properties['unity.catalog.managed.iceberg.defaults.delta.feature.catalogManaged']")
+	managedDefaults, err := structpath.ParsePattern("properties['unity.catalog.managed.*.defaults.*']")
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	cfg := &dresources.ResourceLifecycleConfig{
 		BackendDefaults: []dresources.BackendDefaultRule{
-			{Field: rowTracking},
-			{Field: catalogManaged},
+			{Field: managedDefaults},
 		},
 	}
 
@@ -106,12 +103,36 @@ func TestShouldSkipBackendDefault_ManagedPropertiesOnly(t *testing.T) {
 			remote:   "true",
 			expected: true,
 		},
+		{
+			name:     "managed delta cluster by auto property",
+			path:     "properties['unity.catalog.managed.delta.defaults.defaultClusterByAuto']",
+			remote:   "true",
+			expected: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "managed delta checkpoint policy property",
+			path:     "properties['unity.catalog.managed.delta.defaults.delta.checkpointPolicy']",
+			remote:   "v2",
+			expected: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "managed delta feature catalogManaged property",
+			path:     "properties['unity.catalog.managed.delta.defaults.delta.feature.catalogManaged']",
+			remote:   "supported",
+			expected: true,
+		},
 		{
 			name:     "unmanaged remote-only property is not skipped",
 			path:     "properties['custom.remote_only']",
 			remote:   "true",
 			expected: false,
 		},
+		{
+			name:     "managed prefix without defaults segment is not skipped",
+			path:     "properties['unity.catalog.managed.delta.other.delta.enableRowTracking']",
+			remote:   "true",
+			expected: false,
+		},
 		{
 			name:     "managed-only parent properties map is skipped",
 			path:     "properties",
diff --git a/bundle/direct/dresources/resources.yml b/bundle/direct/dresources/resources.yml
index 40e441d0f8f..332b934a286 100644
--- a/bundle/direct/dresources/resources.yml
+++ b/bundle/direct/dresources/resources.yml
@@ -389,14 +389,8 @@ resources:
       - field: name
         reason: id_changes
     backend_defaults:
-      # UC auto-populates these system-managed keys after create (same as schemas).
-      - field: properties['unity.catalog.managed.delta.defaults.delta.enableRowTracking']
-      - field: properties['unity.catalog.managed.iceberg.defaults.delta.feature.catalogManaged']
-      - field: properties['unity.catalog.managed.delta.defaults.defaultClusterByAuto']
-      - field: properties['unity.catalog.managed.delta.defaults.delta.checkpointPolicy']
-      - field: properties['unity.catalog.managed.delta.defaults.delta.parquet.format.version']
-      - field: properties['unity.catalog.managed.delta.defaults.delta.parquet.format.version.afe.internal']
-      - field: properties['unity.catalog.managed.delta.defaults.delta.feature.catalogManaged']
+      # UC auto-populates unity.catalog.managed.<format>.defaults.* keys after create.
+      - field: properties['unity.catalog.managed.*.defaults.*']
 
   schemas:
     provided_id_fields:
@@ -412,16 +406,10 @@ resources:
       - field: storage_root
         reason: uc_strips_trailing_slash
     backend_defaults:
-      # UC auto-populates these system-managed keys after create.
+      # UC auto-populates unity.catalog.managed.<format>.defaults.* keys after create.
       # Without this, every subsequent plan produces an Update whose payload is empty,
       # and UC rejects it with "UpdateSchema Nothing to update".
-      - field: properties['unity.catalog.managed.delta.defaults.delta.enableRowTracking']
-      - field: properties['unity.catalog.managed.iceberg.defaults.delta.feature.catalogManaged']
-      - field: properties['unity.catalog.managed.delta.defaults.defaultClusterByAuto']
-      - field: properties['unity.catalog.managed.delta.defaults.delta.checkpointPolicy']
-      - field: properties['unity.catalog.managed.delta.defaults.delta.parquet.format.version']
-      - field: properties['unity.catalog.managed.delta.defaults.delta.parquet.format.version.afe.internal']
-      - field: properties['unity.catalog.managed.delta.defaults.delta.feature.catalogManaged']
+      - field: properties['unity.catalog.managed.*.defaults.*']
 
   external_locations:
     recreate_on_changes:
diff --git a/libs/structs/structpath/path.go b/libs/structs/structpath/path.go
index 5ae81019ee4..0aca174075e 100644
--- a/libs/structs/structpath/path.go
+++ b/libs/structs/structpath/path.go
@@ -865,7 +865,8 @@ func (p *PathNode) HasPatternPrefix(prefix *PatternNode) bool {
 }
 
 // nodeMatchesPattern checks if a concrete path node matches a pattern node.
-// Wildcards (.* and [*]) match any node.
+// Wildcards (.* and [*]) match any node. A * inside a bracket map key matches
+// one dot-separated segment; a trailing * matches the remainder of the key.
 func nodeMatchesPattern(concrete *PathNode, pattern *PatternNode) bool {
 	if concrete == nil && pattern == nil {
 		return true
@@ -876,9 +877,39 @@ func nodeMatchesPattern(concrete *PathNode, pattern *PatternNode) bool {
 	if pattern.DotStar() || pattern.BracketStar() {
 		return true
 	}
+	patternKey, patternIsBracket := ((*PathNode)(pattern)).BracketString()
+	concreteKey, concreteIsBracket := concrete.BracketString()
+	if patternIsBracket && concreteIsBracket && strings.Contains(patternKey, "*") {
+		return matchDotSeparatedGlob(patternKey, concreteKey)
+	}
 	return nodesEqual(concrete, (*PathNode)(pattern))
 }
 
+// matchDotSeparatedGlob matches keys split on '.'. Each '*' consumes exactly one
+// segment unless it is the last pattern segment, in which case it matches any suffix.
+func matchDotSeparatedGlob(pattern, key string) bool {
+	return matchDotSeparatedGlobParts(strings.Split(pattern, "."), strings.Split(key, "."))
+}
+
+func matchDotSeparatedGlobParts(patternParts, keyParts []string) bool {
+	if len(patternParts) == 0 {
+		return len(keyParts) == 0
+	}
+	if patternParts[0] == "*" {
+		if len(patternParts) == 1 {
+			return true
+		}
+		if len(keyParts) == 0 {
+			return false
+		}
+		return matchDotSeparatedGlobParts(patternParts[1:], keyParts[1:])
+	}
+	if len(keyParts) == 0 || patternParts[0] != keyParts[0] {
+		return false
+	}
+	return matchDotSeparatedGlobParts(patternParts[1:], keyParts[1:])
+}
+
 // MarshalYAML implements yaml.Marshaler for PathNode.
 func (p *PathNode) MarshalYAML() (any, error) {
 	return p.String(), nil
diff --git a/libs/structs/structpath/path_test.go b/libs/structs/structpath/path_test.go
index 2f8fe4bf6be..8635d9d4cf8 100644
--- a/libs/structs/structpath/path_test.go
+++ b/libs/structs/structpath/path_test.go
@@ -988,6 +988,32 @@ func TestHasPatternPrefix(t *testing.T) {
 			pattern:  "a.x.c",
 			expected: false,
 		},
+
+		// Bracket map key globs
+		{
+			name:     "bracket map key glob matches managed delta property",
+			path:     "properties['unity.catalog.managed.delta.defaults.delta.enableRowTracking']",
+			pattern:  "properties['unity.catalog.managed.*.defaults.*']",
+			expected: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "bracket map key glob matches managed iceberg property",
+			path:     "properties['unity.catalog.managed.iceberg.defaults.delta.feature.catalogManaged']",
+			pattern:  "properties['unity.catalog.managed.*.defaults.*']",
+			expected: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "bracket map key glob rejects unrelated property",
+			path:     "properties['custom.remote_only']",
+			pattern:  "properties['unity.catalog.managed.*.defaults.*']",
+			expected: false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "bracket map key glob rejects managed key without defaults segment",
+			path:     "properties['unity.catalog.managed.delta.other.delta.enableRowTracking']",
+			pattern:  "properties['unity.catalog.managed.*.defaults.*']",
+			expected: false,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {