diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
index 2e95e8b..6a6a20b 100644
--- a/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
+# Set the package install state for distribution packages
+# Options are 'present' and 'latest'
+ceph_client_package_state: "latest"
+
 # to use Ceph in OSA, you need to
 # - have the needed pools and a client user (for glance, cinder and/or nova)
 #   pre-provisioned in your ceph cluster; OSA assumes to have root access to
diff --git a/tasks/ceph_install_apt.yml b/tasks/ceph_install_apt.yml
index 5983fba..3fadbb9 100644
--- a/tasks/ceph_install_apt.yml
+++ b/tasks/ceph_install_apt.yml
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
 - name: Install ceph packages
   apt:
     name: '{{ item.1 }}'
-    state: latest
+    state: "{{ ceph_client_package_state }}"
   register: install_packages
   until: install_packages|success
   retries: 5
diff --git a/tasks/ceph_preinstall_apt.yml b/tasks/ceph_preinstall_apt.yml
index 1647b71..03408c9 100644
--- a/tasks/ceph_preinstall_apt.yml
+++ b/tasks/ceph_preinstall_apt.yml
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@
 - name: add ubuntu cloud archive key package
   apt:
     pkg: ubuntu-cloud-keyring
+    state: "{{ ceph_client_package_state }}"
   register: add_keys
   when: ceph_pkg_source == 'uca'
   tags: