diff --git a/puppet/services/neutron-base.yaml b/puppet/services/neutron-base.yaml
index 43657bd901..553619397f 100644
--- a/puppet/services/neutron-base.yaml
+++ b/puppet/services/neutron-base.yaml
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ parameters:
     type: number
   NeutronDhcpAgentsPerNetwork:
     type: number
-    default: 3
+    default: 0
     description: The number of neutron dhcp agents to schedule per network
   NeutronCorePlugin:
     default: 'ml2'
@@ -72,24 +72,31 @@ parameters:
                  via parameter_defaults in the resource registry.
     type: json
 
+conditions:
+  dhcp_agents_zero: {equals : [{get_param: NeutronDhcpAgentsPerNetwork}, 0]}
+
 outputs:
   role_data:
     description: Role data for the Neutron base service.
     value:
       service_name: neutron_base
       config_settings:
-        neutron::rabbit_password: {get_param: RabbitPassword}
-        neutron::rabbit_user: {get_param: RabbitUserName}
-        neutron::rabbit_use_ssl: {get_param: RabbitClientUseSSL}
-        neutron::rabbit_port: {get_param: RabbitClientPort}
-        neutron::dhcp_agents_per_network: {get_param: NeutronDhcpAgentsPerNetwork}
-        neutron::core_plugin: {get_param: NeutronCorePlugin}
-        neutron::service_plugins: {get_param: NeutronServicePlugins}
-        neutron::debug: {get_param: Debug}
-        neutron::purge_config: {get_param: EnableConfigPurge}
-        neutron::allow_overlapping_ips: true
-        neutron::rabbit_heartbeat_timeout_threshold: 60
-        neutron::host: '%{::fqdn}'
-        neutron::db::database_db_max_retries: -1
-        neutron::db::database_max_retries: -1
-        neutron::global_physnet_mtu: {get_param: NeutronGlobalPhysnetMtu}
+        map_merge:
+          - neutron::rabbit_password: {get_param: RabbitPassword}
+            neutron::rabbit_user: {get_param: RabbitUserName}
+            neutron::rabbit_use_ssl: {get_param: RabbitClientUseSSL}
+            neutron::rabbit_port: {get_param: RabbitClientPort}
+            neutron::core_plugin: {get_param: NeutronCorePlugin}
+            neutron::service_plugins: {get_param: NeutronServicePlugins}
+            neutron::debug: {get_param: Debug}
+            neutron::purge_config: {get_param: EnableConfigPurge}
+            neutron::allow_overlapping_ips: true
+            neutron::rabbit_heartbeat_timeout_threshold: 60
+            neutron::host: '%{::fqdn}'
+            neutron::db::database_db_max_retries: -1
+            neutron::db::database_max_retries: -1
+            neutron::global_physnet_mtu: {get_param: NeutronGlobalPhysnetMtu}
+          - if:
+            - dhcp_agents_zero
+            - {}
+            - tripleo::profile::base::neutron::dhcp_agents_per_network: {get_param: NeutronDhcpAgentsPerNetwork}
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/allow-neutron-dhcp-agents-per-network-calculation-536c70391497256d.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/allow-neutron-dhcp-agents-per-network-calculation-536c70391497256d.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ec22942ab8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/allow-neutron-dhcp-agents-per-network-calculation-536c70391497256d.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+---
+fixes:
+  - |
+    NeutronDhcpAgents had a default value of 3 that, even though unused in
+    practice was a bad default value. Changing the default value to a
+    sentinel value and making the hiera conditional allows deploy-time
+    logic in puppet to provide a default value based on the number of dhcp
+    agents being deployed.