diff --git a/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/defaults/main.yml b/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/defaults/main.yml
index 06c6f7b20..9ab562bdb 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/defaults/main.yml
@@ -40,5 +40,14 @@ bifrost_venv_dir: "{{ lookup('env', 'VENV') | default('/opt/stack/bifrost') }}"
 bifrost_venv_env:
   VIRTUAL_ENV: "{{ bifrost_venv_dir }}"
   PATH: "{{ bifrost_venv_dir }}/bin:{{ ansible_env.PATH }}" # include regular path via lookup env
-reqs_git_folder: /opt/stack/requirements
+
+git_branch: master
+git_root: "/opt/stack"
+reqs_git_url: https://opendev.org/openstack/requirements
+reqs_git_folder: "{{ git_root }}/requirements"
+reqs_git_branch: "{{ git_branch }}"
 upper_constraints_file: "{{ lookup('env', 'UPPER_CONSTRAINTS_FILE') | default(reqs_git_folder + '/upper-constraints.txt', True) }}"
+
+# Conditional variables utilized based on CI or manual testing options.
+copy_from_local_path: false
+ci_testing_zuul: false
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/tasks/main.yml b/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/tasks/main.yml
index 78b0510a7..0413126ce 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/bifrost-create-vm-nodes/tasks/main.yml
@@ -88,6 +88,35 @@
   vars:
     ansible_python_interpreter: '/usr/bin/python3'
 
+- name: "Set ci_testing_zuul if it appears we are running in upstream OpenStack CI"
+  set_fact:
+     ci_testing: true
+     ci_testing_zuul: true
+     reqs_git_url: "{{ lookup('env', 'WORKSPACE') }}/openstack/requirements"
+  when: lookup('env', 'ZUUL_BRANCH') | length > 0
+
+- name: ensure installation root folder exists
+  become: yes
+  file:
+    state: directory
+    dest: "{{ git_root }}"
+    owner: "{{ ansible_user_id }}"
+    group: "{{ ansible_user_gid }}"
+
+- name: download requirements via git
+  git:
+    dest: "{{ reqs_git_folder }}"
+    force: yes
+    repo: "{{ reqs_git_url }}"
+    version: "{{ reqs_git_branch }}"
+    update: yes
+    clone: yes
+  when: ci_testing_zuul | bool == false and copy_from_local_path | bool == false
+
+- name: copy requirements from local path
+  command: cp -a {{ reqs_git_url }} {{ reqs_git_folder }} creates={{ reqs_git_folder }}
+  when: ci_testing_zuul | bool == true or copy_from_local_path | bool == true
+
 - include: prepare_libvirt.yml
 
 - name: truncate explicit list of vm names
diff --git a/scripts/test-bifrost.sh b/scripts/test-bifrost.sh
index 418f35dbc..57b31c319 100755
--- a/scripts/test-bifrost.sh
+++ b/scripts/test-bifrost.sh
@@ -127,13 +127,6 @@ logs_on_exit() {
 }
 trap logs_on_exit EXIT
 
-# Clone the requirements repo if we don't already have
-# a copy. This is provided by OpenStack CI jobs, but
-# is not automatically present when doing local testing.
-if [ ! -d "$ANSIBLE_INSTALL_ROOT/requirements" ]; then
-    cd $ANSIBLE_INSTALL_ROOT
-    git clone http://opendev.org/openstack/requirements
-fi
 # Change working directory
 cd $BIFROST_HOME/playbooks