diff --git a/scripts/instack-virt-setup b/scripts/instack-virt-setup
index 857c470e3..8b5297363 100755
--- a/scripts/instack-virt-setup
+++ b/scripts/instack-virt-setup
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ fi
 
 
 export NODE_CNT=${NODE_CNT:-4}
+export NODE_DIST=${NODE_DIST:-"fedora"}
 export NODE_ARCH=${NODE_ARCH:-x86_64}
 export NODE_MEM=${NODE_MEM:-3072}