diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
index dc03629b..6fb36c73 100644
--- a/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -89,6 +89,9 @@ galera_additional_users: []
 #    priv: "*.*:USAGE"
 #    state: present
 
+# Choose 'distro' or 'external_repo'
+galera_install_method: external_repo
+
 # Enable or disable the installation of galera development packages
 galera_install_devel: false
 
diff --git a/meta/main.yml b/meta/main.yml
index 809dbe2d..b14ef099 100644
--- a/meta/main.yml
+++ b/meta/main.yml
@@ -44,3 +44,5 @@ dependencies:
     apt_package_pinning_file_name: "galera_pin.pref"
     when:
       - ansible_facts['pkg_mgr'] == 'apt'
+      - galera_install_method == 'external_repo'
+      - galera_repo | default(True)
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/galera_install_source-2989c9ed3a21d945.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/galera_install_source-2989c9ed3a21d945.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c4e18866
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/galera_install_source-2989c9ed3a21d945.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+features:
+  - |
+    Added variable ``galera_install_method`` to control whether external
+    repositories should be configured or role should attempt to install
+    from distro default ones instead.
diff --git a/tasks/galera_install_apt.yml b/tasks/galera_install_apt.yml
index cfcbca8a..d17ae09f 100644
--- a/tasks/galera_install_apt.yml
+++ b/tasks/galera_install_apt.yml
@@ -17,47 +17,53 @@
   package:
     name: "{{ galera_mariadb_distro_packages_remove | default([]) }}"
     state: absent
+  when: galera_install_method == 'external_repo'
 
-- name: If a keyfile is provided, copy the gpg keyfile to the key location
-  copy:
-    src: "gpg/{{ item.id }}"
-    dest: "{{ item.file }}"
-    mode: '0644'
-  with_items: "{{ galera_gpg_keys | selectattr('file', 'defined') | list }}"
+- name: Configure repositories for MariaDB installation
+  when:
+    - galera_install_method == 'external_repo'
+    - galera_repo
+  block:
+    - name: If a keyfile is provided, copy the gpg keyfile to the key location
+      copy:
+        src: "gpg/{{ item.id }}"
+        dest: "{{ item.file }}"
+        mode: '0644'
+      with_items: "{{ galera_gpg_keys | selectattr('file', 'defined') | list }}"
 
-- name: Install gpg keys
-  apt_key:
-    data: "{{ key['data'] | default(omit) }}"
-    file: "{{ key['file'] | default(omit) }}"
-    id: "{{ key['id'] | default(omit) }}"
-    state: "{{ key['state'] | default(omit) }}"
-    url: "{{ key['url'] | default(omit) }}"
-    validate_certs: "{{ key['validate_certs'] | default(omit) }}"
-  with_items: "{{ galera_gpg_keys }}"
-  loop_control:
-    loop_var: key
-  register: _add_apt_keys
-  until: _add_apt_keys is success
-  retries: 5
-  delay: 2
+    - name: Install gpg keys
+      apt_key:
+        data: "{{ key['data'] | default(omit) }}"
+        file: "{{ key['file'] | default(omit) }}"
+        id: "{{ key['id'] | default(omit) }}"
+        state: "{{ key['state'] | default(omit) }}"
+        url: "{{ key['url'] | default(omit) }}"
+        validate_certs: "{{ key['validate_certs'] | default(omit) }}"
+      with_items: "{{ galera_gpg_keys }}"
+      loop_control:
+        loop_var: key
+      register: _add_apt_keys
+      until: _add_apt_keys is success
+      retries: 5
+      delay: 2
 
-- name: Remove old repos
-  lineinfile:
-    dest: "/etc/apt/sources.list.d/{{ item.name }}.list"
-    regexp: "^((?!{{ item.repo }}).*)$"
-    state: absent
-  with_items:
-    - { name: "MariaDB", repo: "{{ galera_repo.repo }}" }
-  when: galera_repo.repo is defined
+    - name: Remove old repos
+      lineinfile:
+        dest: "/etc/apt/sources.list.d/{{ item.name }}.list"
+        regexp: "^((?!{{ item.repo }}).*)$"
+        state: absent
+      with_items:
+        - { name: "MariaDB", repo: "{{ galera_repo.repo }}" }
+      when: galera_repo.repo is defined
 
-- name: Add galera repo
-  apt_repository:
-    repo: "{{ galera_repo.repo }}"
-    filename: "{{ galera_repo.filename | default(omit) }}"
-    state: "{{ galera_repo.state }}"
-    update_cache: yes
-  register: add_galera_repo
-  when: galera_repo.repo is defined
+    - name: Add galera repo
+      apt_repository:
+        repo: "{{ galera_repo.repo }}"
+        filename: "{{ galera_repo.filename | default(omit) }}"
+        state: "{{ galera_repo.state }}"
+        update_cache: yes
+      register: add_galera_repo
+      when: galera_repo.repo is defined
 
 - name: Preseed galera password(s)
   debconf:
diff --git a/tasks/galera_install_dnf.yml b/tasks/galera_install_dnf.yml
index 98d8de29..fa41679e 100644
--- a/tasks/galera_install_dnf.yml
+++ b/tasks/galera_install_dnf.yml
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
   register: _remove_existing_mariadb_packages
   changed_when: _remove_existing_mariadb_packages.rc == 2
   failed_when: _remove_existing_mariadb_packages.rc not in [0, 2]
+  when: galera_install_method == 'external_repo'
   args:
     executable: /bin/bash
 
@@ -85,35 +86,38 @@
       state: "link"
       force: true
 
-- name: If a keyfile is provided, copy the gpg keyfile to the key location
-  copy:
-    src: "gpg/{{ item.key | basename }}"
-    dest: "{{ item.key }}"
-    mode: '0644'
-  with_items: "{{ galera_gpg_keys }}"
+- name: Configure repositories for MariaDB installation
+  when:
+    - galera_install_method == 'external_repo'
+    - galera_repo
+  block:
+    - name: If a keyfile is provided, copy the gpg keyfile to the key location
+      copy:
+        src: "gpg/{{ item.key | basename }}"
+        dest: "{{ item.key }}"
+        mode: '0644'
+      with_items: "{{ galera_gpg_keys }}"
 
-- name: Add galera repo
-  yum_repository:
-    name: "{{ galera_repo.name }}"
-    description: "{{ galera_repo.description }}"
-    baseurl: "{{ galera_repo.baseurl }}"
-    gpgkey: "{{ galera_repo.gpgkey | default(omit) }}"
-    gpgcheck: yes
-    enabled: yes
-    priority: 25
-  when: galera_repo != {}
-  register: add_galera_repos
-  until: add_galera_repos is success
-  retries: 5
-  delay: 2
+    - name: Add galera repo
+      yum_repository:
+        name: "{{ galera_repo.name }}"
+        description: "{{ galera_repo.description }}"
+        baseurl: "{{ galera_repo.baseurl }}"
+        gpgkey: "{{ galera_repo.gpgkey | default(omit) }}"
+        gpgcheck: yes
+        enabled: yes
+        priority: 25
+      register: add_galera_repos
+      until: add_galera_repos is success
+      retries: 5
+      delay: 2
 
-- name: Enable module_hotfixes
-  lineinfile:
-    dest: "/etc/yum.repos.d/{{ galera_repo.name }}.repo"
-    line: "module_hotfixes=1"
-    regexp: "^module_hotfixes"
-    insertafter: "^enabled"
-  when: galera_repo != {}
+    - name: Enable module_hotfixes
+      lineinfile:
+        dest: "/etc/yum.repos.d/{{ galera_repo.name }}.repo"
+        line: "module_hotfixes=1"
+        regexp: "^module_hotfixes"
+        insertafter: "^enabled"
 
 # When changing the repo URL, the metadata does
 # not reliably update, resulting in the right
diff --git a/vars/redhat.yml b/vars/redhat.yml
index 57c468b6..6b6a4afa 100644
--- a/vars/redhat.yml
+++ b/vars/redhat.yml
@@ -30,21 +30,21 @@ galera_server_required_distro_packages:
   - libstdc++
   - libgcc
   - libgcrypt
-  - MariaDB-client
-  - MariaDB-devel
+  - "{{ (galera_install_method == 'external_repo') | ternary('MariaDB-client', 'mariadb') }}"
+  - "{{ (galera_install_method == 'external_repo') | ternary('MariaDB-devel', 'mariadb-connector-c-devel') }}"
   - python3-PyMySQL
 
 galera_etc_conf_file: "/etc/mysql/my.cnf"
 galera_etc_include_dir: "/etc/mysql/conf.d"
 galera_var_run_socket: "{{ galera_data_dir }}/mysql.sock"
 
-_galera_mariadb_server_package: "MariaDB-server"
+_galera_mariadb_server_package: "{{ (galera_install_method == 'external_repo') | ternary('MariaDB-server', 'mariadb-server') }}"
 
 galera_server_mariadb_distro_packages:
   - which
   - "{{ galera_mariadb_server_package }}"
-  - MariaDB-backup
-  - MariaDB-shared
+  - "{{ (galera_install_method == 'external_repo') | ternary('MariaDB-backup', 'mariadb-backup') }}"
+  - "{{ (galera_install_method == 'external_repo') | ternary('MariaDB-shared', 'galera') }}"
   - rsync
   - socat
 
@@ -56,9 +56,9 @@ galera_mariadb_distro_packages_remove:
 
 # The packages to uninstall during an upgrade from a previous version
 galera_server_upgrade_packages_remove:
-  - galera-*
+  - galera*
   - MariaDB-Galera-server
-  - MariaDB-server
+  - "{{ galera_mariadb_server_package }}"
 
 _galera_repo_url: "http://{{ galera_repo_host }}/MariaDB/mariadb-{{ galera_major_version }}.{{ galera_minor_version }}/yum/rhel/$releasever/$basearch"
 _galera_repo:
@@ -67,12 +67,13 @@ _galera_repo:
   baseurl: "{{ galera_repo_url }}"
   gpgkey: "file://{{ galera_gpg_keys | map(attribute='key') | join('file://') }}"
 
-galera_wsrep_provider: "/usr/lib64/galera-4/libgalera_smm.so"
+# NOTE: CentOS Stream/Rocky 9 still ship mariadb 10.5 out of their default repos
+galera_wsrep_provider: "/usr/lib64/{{ (galera_install_method == 'external_repo') | ternary('galera-4', 'galera') }}/libgalera_smm.so"
 
 galera_client_distro_packages:
-  - MariaDB-client
+  - "{{ (galera_install_method == 'external_repo') | ternary('MariaDB-client', 'mariadb') }}"
 
 galera_devel_distro_packages:
-  - MariaDB-devel
+  - "{{ (galera_install_method == 'external_repo') | ternary('MariaDB-devel', 'mariadb-connector-c-devel') }}"
 
 galera_unix_socket: "{{ galera_data_dir }}/mysql.sock"