diff --git a/manifests/registry.pp b/manifests/registry.pp
index 761b7ca2..84e8155a 100644
--- a/manifests/registry.pp
+++ b/manifests/registry.pp
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@
 #  [*keystone_password*]
 #    (required) The keystone password for administrative user
 #
+#  [*package_ensure*]
+#    (optional) Ensure state for package. Defaults to 'present'.  On RedHat
+#    platforms this setting is ignored and the setting from the glance class is
+#    used because there is only one glance package.
+#
 #  [*verbose*]
 #    (optional) Enable verbose logs (true|false). Defaults to false.
 #
@@ -106,6 +111,7 @@
 #
 class glance::registry(
   $keystone_password,
+  $package_ensure        = 'present',
   $verbose               = false,
   $debug                 = false,
   $bind_host             = '0.0.0.0',
@@ -142,7 +148,8 @@ class glance::registry(
   }
 
   if ( $glance::params::api_package_name != $glance::params::registry_package_name ) {
-    ensure_packages([$glance::params::registry_package_name])
+    ensure_packages( [$glance::params::registry_package_name],
+      { ensure => $package_ensure })
   }
 
   Package[$glance::params::registry_package_name] -> File['/etc/glance/']
diff --git a/spec/classes/glance_registry_spec.rb b/spec/classes/glance_registry_spec.rb
index b113d052..8b6dcbd1 100644
--- a/spec/classes/glance_registry_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/classes/glance_registry_spec.rb
@@ -296,9 +296,15 @@ describe 'glance::registry' do
     let :facts do
       { :osfamily => 'Debian' }
     end
-    let(:params) { default_params }
 
-    it {should contain_package('glance-registry')}
+    # We only test this on Debian platforms, since on RedHat there isn't a
+    # separate package for glance registry.
+    ['present', 'latest'].each do |package_ensure|
+      context "with package_ensure '#{package_ensure}'" do
+        let(:params) { default_params.merge({ :package_ensure => package_ensure })}
+        it {should contain_package('glance-registry').with_ensure(package_ensure)}
+      end
+    end
   end
 
   describe 'on RedHat platforms' do