diff --git a/playbooks/roles/rsyslog_client/defaults/main.yml b/playbooks/roles/rsyslog_client/defaults/main.yml
index 6d8b4ab583..34e78e98f4 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/rsyslog_client/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/rsyslog_client/defaults/main.yml
@@ -44,6 +44,9 @@ rsyslog_client_udp_port: 514
 rsyslog_client_tcp_reception: false
 rsyslog_client_tcp_port: 514
 
+# Define the log files list as empty
+rsyslog_client_log_files: []
+
 # Set the `rsyslog_client_user_defined_targets` to define specific log targets.
 # This option will allow you to define multiple log targets with different templates
 # and options. The value of this variable is a list of hashes with the following
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/rsyslog_client/tasks/rsyslog_client_post_install.yml b/playbooks/roles/rsyslog_client/tasks/rsyslog_client_post_install.yml
index abfc2ef3f9..1ddede583f 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/rsyslog_client/tasks/rsyslog_client_post_install.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/rsyslog_client/tasks/rsyslog_client_post_install.yml
@@ -41,35 +41,6 @@
   tags:
     - rsyslog-client-config
 
-- name: Set fact for combined log files list and found logs
-  set_fact:
-    rsyslog_client_log_files: "{{ log_files.stdout_lines | union(rsyslog_client_log_files) }}"
-  when: >
-    rsyslog_client_log_files is defined and
-    log_files | success
-  tags:
-    - rsyslog-client-config
-
-- name: Set fact for found log files list
-  set_fact:
-    rsyslog_client_log_files: "{{ log_files.stdout_lines }}"
-  when: >
-    rsyslog_client_log_files is not defined and
-    log_files | success
-  tags:
-    - rsyslog-client-config
-
-- name: Check rsyslog_client_log_files is defined
-  fail:
-    msg: >
-      There were no log files defined in `rsyslog_client_log_files`. Please use that
-      variable to set the files that you want rsyslog to begin shipping logs for. This
-      variable is a list that requires the full path to all log files. You can also set
-      `rsyslog_client_log_dir` which will find all "*.log" files using the path
-      provided.
-  when: >
-    rsyslog_client_log_files is not defined
-
 - name: Write rsyslog config for found log files
   template:
     src: "{{ item.src }}"
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/rsyslog_client/templates/99-rsyslog.conf.j2 b/playbooks/roles/rsyslog_client/templates/99-rsyslog.conf.j2
index 3248ab5967..be8c89dc8b 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/rsyslog_client/templates/99-rsyslog.conf.j2
+++ b/playbooks/roles/rsyslog_client/templates/99-rsyslog.conf.j2
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 # {{ ansible_managed }}
 
+{% if log_files is defined %}
+{% set rsyslog_client_log_files = log_files.stdout_lines | union(rsyslog_client_log_files) %}
+{% endif %}
+
 $WorkDirectory {{ rsyslog_client_spool_directory }}
 $template RFC3164fmt,"<%PRI%>%TIMESTAMP% %HOSTNAME% %syslogtag%%msg%"
 
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/rsyslog_client/templates/os_aggregate_storage.j2 b/playbooks/roles/rsyslog_client/templates/os_aggregate_storage.j2
index 02031a1a88..7e25ae6736 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/rsyslog_client/templates/os_aggregate_storage.j2
+++ b/playbooks/roles/rsyslog_client/templates/os_aggregate_storage.j2
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+{% if log_files is defined %}
+{% set rsyslog_client_log_files = log_files.stdout_lines | union(rsyslog_client_log_files) %}
+{% endif %}
 {% for log_file in rsyslog_client_log_files %}
 {{ log_file }}
 {% endfor %}