diff --git a/tasks/galera_cluster_state.yml b/tasks/galera_cluster_state.yml
index 76d88570..2fb26146 100644
--- a/tasks/galera_cluster_state.yml
+++ b/tasks/galera_cluster_state.yml
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@
       wsrep_incoming_addresses does not match across the cluster. Please fix before
       re-running the playbooks or override with
       'openstack-ansible -e galera_ignore_cluster_state=true galera-install.yml'.
-  with_items: play_hosts
+  with_items: "{{ play_hosts }}"
   when:
     - not galera_ignore_cluster_state | bool
     - mysql_running.rc == 0
diff --git a/tasks/galera_install.yml b/tasks/galera_install.yml
index 80d45f68..97710d98 100644
--- a/tasks/galera_install.yml
+++ b/tasks/galera_install.yml
@@ -28,6 +28,6 @@
   until: install_packages|success
   retries: 5
   delay: 2
-  with_items: galera_pip_packages
+  with_items: "{{ galera_pip_packages }}"
   tags:
     - galera-pip-packages
diff --git a/tasks/galera_install_apt.yml b/tasks/galera_install_apt.yml
index e1e7cdd3..f4d39d1c 100644
--- a/tasks/galera_install_apt.yml
+++ b/tasks/galera_install_apt.yml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
     question: "{{ item.question }}"
     value: "{{ item.value }}"
     vtype: "{{ item.vtype }}"
-  with_items: galera_debconf_items
+  with_items: "{{ galera_debconf_items }}"
   tags:
     - galera-debconf
 
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@
   until: install_packages|success
   retries: 5
   delay: 2
-  with_items: galera_apt_packages
+  with_items: "{{ galera_apt_packages }}"
   notify: Restart mysql
   tags:
     - galera-apt-packages
diff --git a/tasks/galera_pre_install.yml b/tasks/galera_pre_install.yml
index a1c761a1..3d422e1e 100644
--- a/tasks/galera_pre_install.yml
+++ b/tasks/galera_pre_install.yml
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
   until: install_packages|success
   retries: 5
   delay: 2
-  with_items: galera_pre_apt_packages
+  with_items: "{{ galera_pre_apt_packages }}"
   tags:
     - galera-pre-apt-packages
 
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
   ignore_errors: True
   retries: 5
   delay: 2
-  with_items: galera_gpg_keys
+  with_items: "{{ galera_gpg_keys }}"
   tags:
     - galera-apt-keys
 
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@
   until: add_keys_fallback|success
   retries: 5
   delay: 2
-  with_items: galera_gpg_keys
+  with_items: "{{ galera_gpg_keys }}"
   when: add_keys|failed and (item.fallback_keyserver is defined or item.fallback_url is defined)
   tags:
     - galera-apt-keys
diff --git a/tasks/galera_upgrade_pre.yml b/tasks/galera_upgrade_pre.yml
index 8f01f04f..045b9252 100644
--- a/tasks/galera_upgrade_pre.yml
+++ b/tasks/galera_upgrade_pre.yml
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
   file:
     path: "{{ item }}"
     state: absent
-  with_items: old_sources.stdout_lines
+  with_items: "{{ old_sources.stdout_lines | default([]) }}"
   when:
     - galera_upgrade | bool
   tags: