diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
index 9e30e8d..57000d8 100644
--- a/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -215,14 +215,13 @@ gnocchi_memcached_servers: "{{ memcached_servers }}"
 # not exist then the default files will be sourced from the
 # service git repository.
 gnocchi_api_paste_default_file_path: "/etc/openstack_deploy/gnocchi/api-paste.ini"
-gnocchi_policy_default_file_path: "/etc/openstack_deploy/gnocchi/policy.json"
+gnocchi_policy_default_file_path: "/etc/openstack_deploy/gnocchi/policy.yaml"
 
 # If the above-mentioned files do not exist, then these
 # paths will be used to find the files from the git config
 # lookup location.
 gnocchi_git_config_lookup_location: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gnocchixyz/gnocchi/{{ gnocchi_git_install_branch }}/
 gnocchi_api_paste_git_file_path: "gnocchi/rest/api-paste.ini"
-gnocchi_policy_git_file_path: "gnocchi/rest/policy.json"
 
 # Tunable var-based overrides
 # The contents of these are templated over the default files.
diff --git a/handlers/main.yml b/handlers/main.yml
index 8867dea..7b6675e 100644
--- a/handlers/main.yml
+++ b/handlers/main.yml
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
     - "cert installed"
 
 # Note (odyssey4me):
-# The policy.json file is currently read continually by the services
+# The policy.yaml file is currently read continually by the services
 # and is not only read on service start. We therefore cannot template
 # directly to the file read by the service because the new policies
 # may not be valid until the service restarts. This is particularly
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@
     group: "{{ gnocchi_system_group_name }}"
     mode: "0640"
     remote_src: yes
+  when: gnocchi_policy_user_content | length > 0
   listen:
     - "Restart gnocchi services"
     - "venv changed"
diff --git a/tasks/gnocchi_post_install.yml b/tasks/gnocchi_post_install.yml
index 00abfc9..08bea16 100644
--- a/tasks/gnocchi_post_install.yml
+++ b/tasks/gnocchi_post_install.yml
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
     return_content: yes
   with_items:
     - "{{ gnocchi_git_config_lookup_location }}/{{ gnocchi_api_paste_git_file_path }}"
-    - "{{ gnocchi_git_config_lookup_location }}/{{ gnocchi_policy_git_file_path }}"
   register: _git_file_fetch
 
 - name: Copy gnocchi configuration files
@@ -32,6 +31,7 @@
     mode: "{{ item.mode | default('0644') }}"
     config_overrides: "{{ item.config_overrides }}"
     config_type: "{{ item.config_type }}"
+  when: "{{ item.condition }}"
   with_items:
     - src: "gnocchi.conf.j2"
       dest: "/etc/gnocchi/gnocchi.conf"
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@
     - dest: "/etc/gnocchi/policy.yaml-{{ gnocchi_venv_tag }}"
       config_overrides: "{{ gnocchi_policy_overrides }}"
       config_type: "yaml"
-      content: "{{ gnocchi_policy_user_content | default(gnocchi_policy_default_content, true) }}"
+      content: "{{ gnocchi_policy_user_content }}"
+      condition: gnocchi_policy_user_content | length > 0
   notify:
     - Restart gnocchi services
     - Restart uwsgi services
diff --git a/vars/main.yml b/vars/main.yml
index 571ec1e..b77070b 100644
--- a/vars/main.yml
+++ b/vars/main.yml
@@ -29,11 +29,6 @@ gnocchi_api_paste_default_content: |
     _git_file_fetch.results | selectattr(
       'item', 'equalto', gnocchi_git_config_lookup_location ~ '/' ~ gnocchi_api_paste_git_file_path) | map(attribute='content') | first
   }}
-gnocchi_policy_default_content: |
-  {{
-    _git_file_fetch.results | selectattr(
-      'item', 'equalto', gnocchi_git_config_lookup_location ~ '/' ~ gnocchi_policy_git_file_path) | map(attribute='content') | first
-  }}
 
 # NOTE(noonedeadpunk): We prefer using ceph_alternative when storage driver is ceph.
 #                      However, if we define ceph_alternative here, gnocchi with setup.cfg