diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 31130c83..610982f1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ This file is used to list changes made in each version of cookbook-openstack-com
 * Make default using cinder v2 api
 * Add OS_VOLUME_API_VERSION for openrc
 * Removed the hardcoded PPA reference to "Precise"
+* Added an optional automatic apt-get update for Debian based repos
 
 ## 10.1.0
 * Adding identity admin bind host endpoint to allow flexibility and consistency
diff --git a/attributes/default.rb b/attributes/default.rb
index c1055cb7..cda1d62d 100644
--- a/attributes/default.rb
+++ b/attributes/default.rb
@@ -108,6 +108,10 @@ default['openstack']['release'] = 'juno'
 # In the component strings, %codename% will be replaced by the value of
 # the node['lsb']['codename'] Ohai value and %release% will be replaced
 # by the value of node['openstack']['release']
+#
+# Change ['openstack']['apt']['update_apt_cache'] to true if you would like
+# have the cache automaticly updated
+default['openstack']['apt']['update_apt_cache'] = false
 default['openstack']['apt']['live_updates_enabled'] = true
 default['openstack']['apt']['uri'] = 'http://ubuntu-cloud.archive.canonical.com/ubuntu'
 default['openstack']['apt']['components'] = ["#{node['lsb']['codename']}-updates/#{node['openstack']['release']}", 'main']
diff --git a/recipes/default.rb b/recipes/default.rb
index 3f4e3ac2..f964ee97 100644
--- a/recipes/default.rb
+++ b/recipes/default.rb
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@
 platform_options = node['openstack']['common']['platform']
 case node['platform_family']
 when 'debian'
+  if node['openstack']['apt']['update_apt_cache']
+    # Ensure we've done an apt-update first or packages won't be found.
+    include_recipe 'apt'
+  end
   package 'ubuntu-cloud-keyring' do
     options platform_options['package_overrides']
     action :upgrade
diff --git a/spec/default_spec.rb b/spec/default_spec.rb
index 81067354..98a10ae1 100644
--- a/spec/default_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/default_spec.rb
@@ -11,6 +11,15 @@ describe 'openstack-common::default' do
       runner.converge(described_recipe)
     end
 
+    it 'includes apt for apt-get update' do
+      node.set['openstack']['apt']['update_apt_cache'] = 'true'
+      expect(chef_run).to include_recipe 'apt'
+    end
+
+    it 'doesnt include apt for apt-get update' do
+      expect(chef_run).to_not include_recipe 'apt'
+    end
+
     it 'upgrades ubuntu-cloud-keyring package' do
       expect(chef_run).to upgrade_package 'ubuntu-cloud-keyring'
     end