diff --git a/tripleo_common/actions/ansible.py b/tripleo_common/actions/ansible.py
index 847fa796d..ca675f5ef 100644
--- a/tripleo_common/actions/ansible.py
+++ b/tripleo_common/actions/ansible.py
@@ -185,12 +185,14 @@ class AnsibleAction(actions.Action):
         self.gather_facts = self._kwargs_for_run.pop('gather_facts', False)
 
         self._work_dir = None
+        self._remove_work_dir = False
 
     @property
     def work_dir(self):
         if self._work_dir:
             return self._work_dir
         self._work_dir = tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix='ansible-mistral-action')
+        self._remove_work_dir = True
         return self._work_dir
 
     @property
@@ -322,7 +324,7 @@ class AnsibleAction(actions.Action):
                     "log_path": os.path.join(self.work_dir, 'ansible.log')}
         finally:
             # NOTE(flaper87): clean the mess if debug is disabled.
-            if not self.verbosity:
+            if not self.verbosity and self._remove_work_dir:
                 shutil.rmtree(self.work_dir)
 
 
@@ -383,11 +385,14 @@ class AnsiblePlaybookAction(base.TripleOAction):
         self.command_timeout = self._kwargs_for_run.pop(
             'command_timeout', None)
 
+        self._remove_work_dir = False
+
     @property
     def work_dir(self):
         if self._work_dir:
             return self._work_dir
         self._work_dir = tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix='ansible-mistral-action')
+        self._remove_work_dir = True
         return self._work_dir
 
     @property
@@ -658,7 +663,7 @@ class AnsiblePlaybookAction(base.TripleOAction):
                     "log_path": os.path.join(self.work_dir, 'ansible.log')}
         finally:
             # NOTE(flaper87): clean the mess if debug is disabled.
-            if not self.verbosity:
+            if not self.verbosity and self._remove_work_dir:
                 shutil.rmtree(self.work_dir)
 
 
diff --git a/tripleo_common/tests/actions/test_ansible.py b/tripleo_common/tests/actions/test_ansible.py
index 76d1105e9..0f4606bc4 100644
--- a/tripleo_common/tests/actions/test_ansible.py
+++ b/tripleo_common/tests/actions/test_ansible.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import mock
 import os
 import random
 from six.moves import configparser
+import shutil
 import string
 import sys
 import tempfile
@@ -184,6 +185,50 @@ class AnsiblePlaybookActionTest(base.TestCase):
             mock.call(action.format_message(
                       message[message_size * 3:2048])))
 
+    @mock.patch("shutil.rmtree")
+    @mock.patch("tripleo_common.actions.ansible.write_default_ansible_cfg")
+    @mock.patch("oslo_concurrency.processutils.execute")
+    def test_work_dir_cleanup(self, mock_execute, mock_write_cfg, mock_rmtree):
+
+        mock_execute.return_value = ('', '')
+
+        action = ansible.AnsiblePlaybookAction(
+            playbook=self.playbook, limit_hosts=self.limit_hosts,
+            remote_user=self.remote_user, become=self.become,
+            become_user=self.become_user, extra_vars=self.extra_vars,
+            verbosity=0)
+
+        try:
+            action.run(self.ctx)
+            mock_rmtree.assert_called_once_with(action.work_dir)
+        finally:
+            # Since we mocked the delete we need to manually cleanup.
+            shutil.rmtree(action.work_dir)
+
+    @mock.patch("shutil.rmtree")
+    @mock.patch("tripleo_common.actions.ansible.write_default_ansible_cfg")
+    @mock.patch("oslo_concurrency.processutils.execute")
+    def test_work_dir_no_cleanup(self, mock_execute, mock_write_cfg,
+                                 mock_rmtree):
+
+        mock_execute.return_value = ('', '')
+
+        # Specity a work_dir, this should not be deleted automatically.
+        work_dir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
+        try:
+            action = ansible.AnsiblePlaybookAction(
+                playbook=self.playbook, limit_hosts=self.limit_hosts,
+                remote_user=self.remote_user, become=self.become,
+                become_user=self.become_user, extra_vars=self.extra_vars,
+                verbosity=self.verbosity, work_dir=work_dir)
+
+            action.run(self.ctx)
+
+            # verify the rmtree is not called
+            mock_rmtree.assert_not_called()
+        finally:
+            shutil.rmtree(work_dir)
+
 
 class CopyConfigFileTest(base.TestCase):