diff --git a/playbooks/inventory/group_vars/all.yml b/playbooks/inventory/group_vars/all.yml
index 0d7a308816..269a59a62e 100644
--- a/playbooks/inventory/group_vars/all.yml
+++ b/playbooks/inventory/group_vars/all.yml
@@ -117,6 +117,8 @@ ceilometer_rabbitmq_host_group: "rabbitmq_all"
 ceilometer_rabbitmq_port: "{{ rabbitmq_port }}"
 
 ## Cinder
+# If there are Swift hosts in the environment, then enable cinder backups to it
+cinder_service_backup_program_enabled: "{{ groups['swift_all'] is defined and groups['swift_all'] | length > 0 }}"
 # cinder_backend_rbd_inuse: True if current host has an rbd backend
 cinder_backend_rbd_inuse: '{{ (cinder_backends|default("")|to_json).find("cinder.volume.drivers.rbd.RBDDriver") != -1 }}'
 # cinder_backends_rbd_inuse: true if at least 1 cinder_backend on any
diff --git a/playbooks/inventory/group_vars/utility_all.yml b/playbooks/inventory/group_vars/utility_all.yml
index f88c5b0b5b..9716eae532 100644
--- a/playbooks/inventory/group_vars/utility_all.yml
+++ b/playbooks/inventory/group_vars/utility_all.yml
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ tempest_log_dir: /var/log/utility
 
 galera_client_drop_config_file: true
 
+# If cinder has a backup service enabled, make sure that Tempest tests it
+tempest_volume_backup_enabled: "{{ cinder_service_backup_program_enabled | bool }}"
+
 # Ensure that the package state matches the global setting
 utility_package_state: "{{ package_state }}"
 
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/detect-cinder-backup-service-7dc68f532741be87.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/detect-cinder-backup-service-7dc68f532741be87.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..107cb83d62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/detect-cinder-backup-service-7dc68f532741be87.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+---
+features:
+  - If there are swift hosts in the environment, then the value for
+    ``cinder_service_backup_program_enabled`` will automatically be
+    set to ``True``. This negates the need to set this variable in
+    ``user_variables.yml``, but the value may still be overridden at
+    the deployer discretion.
+upgrade:
+  - If there are swift hosts in the environment, then the value for
+    ``cinder_service_backup_program_enabled`` will automatically be
+    set to ``True``. This negates the need to set this variable in
+    ``user_variables.yml``, but the value may still be overridden at
+    the deployer discretion.
diff --git a/tests/roles/bootstrap-host/templates/user_variables.aio.yml.j2 b/tests/roles/bootstrap-host/templates/user_variables.aio.yml.j2
index 21f0aa5ee4..18d892d480 100644
--- a/tests/roles/bootstrap-host/templates/user_variables.aio.yml.j2
+++ b/tests/roles/bootstrap-host/templates/user_variables.aio.yml.j2
@@ -16,15 +16,11 @@
 ## General options
 debug: True
 
-## Cinder settings
-cinder_service_backup_program_enabled: True
-
 ## Tempest settings
 tempest_service_available_ceilometer: True
 tempest_service_available_aodh: True
 tempest_public_subnet_cidr: 172.29.248.0/22
 tempest_public_subnet_allocation_pools: "172.29.249.110-172.29.249.200"
-tempest_volume_backup_enabled: True
 
 ## Galera settings
 galera_innodb_buffer_pool_size: 512M