diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
index dc32c74b..d8213beb 100644
--- a/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -35,9 +35,9 @@ galera_cluster_name: openstack_galera_cluster
 # These are here to stub out the internal ROLE API.
 #  if these are used they should be set within the
 #  distro specific variable files found in vars/
-galera_pinned_packages: []
+galera_server_distro_package_pins: []
 galera_debconf_items: []
-percona_upstream_packages: []
+galera_server_percona_distro_packages: []
 
 
 galera_existing_cluster: true
diff --git a/meta/main.yml b/meta/main.yml
index 2754d59e..6be923cb 100644
--- a/meta/main.yml
+++ b/meta/main.yml
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ galaxy_info:
     - openstack
 dependencies:
   - role: apt_package_pinning
-    apt_pinned_packages: "{{ galera_pinned_packages }}"
+    apt_pinned_packages: "{{ galera_server_distro_package_pins }}"
     apt_package_pinning_file_name: "galera_pin.pref"
     when:
       - ansible_pkg_mgr == 'apt'
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/package-list-name-changes-7fcd5583f0db0eb6.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/package-list-name-changes-7fcd5583f0db0eb6.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2175313c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/package-list-name-changes-7fcd5583f0db0eb6.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+upgrade:
+  - The variable ``galera_pre_packages`` has been renamed to
+    ``galera_server_required_distro_packages``.
+  - The variable ``galera_packages`` has been renamed to
+    ``galera_server_mariadb_distro_packages``.
diff --git a/tasks/galera_install_apt.yml b/tasks/galera_install_apt.yml
index f2821a19..abc83922 100644
--- a/tasks/galera_install_apt.yml
+++ b/tasks/galera_install_apt.yml
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
   until: install_packages|success
   retries: 5
   delay: 2
-  with_items: "{{ galera_pre_packages }}"
+  with_items: "{{ galera_server_required_distro_packages }}"
   tags:
     - galera-pre-apt-packages
 
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@
   until: install_packages|success
   retries: 5
   delay: 2
-  with_items: "{{ galera_packages }}"
+  with_items: "{{ galera_server_mariadb_distro_packages }}"
   notify: Restart mysql
   tags:
     - galera-apt-packages
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@
   apt:
     pkg: "{{ item }}"
     state: installed
-  with_items: "{{ percona_upstream_packages }}"
+  with_items: "{{ galera_server_percona_distro_packages }}"
   when: use_percona_upstream | bool
   tags:
     - percona-apt-packages
diff --git a/tasks/galera_install_yum.yml b/tasks/galera_install_yum.yml
index fd4ad6ac..91e64014 100644
--- a/tasks/galera_install_yum.yml
+++ b/tasks/galera_install_yum.yml
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@
   until: install_packages|success
   retries: 5
   delay: 2
-  with_items: "{{ galera_pre_packages }}"
+  with_items: "{{ galera_server_required_distro_packages }}"
   tags:
     - galera-pre-yum-packages
 
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@
   until: install_packages|success
   retries: 5
   delay: 2
-  with_items: "{{ percona_upstream_packages }}"
+  with_items: "{{ galera_server_percona_distro_packages }}"
   when: use_percona_upstream | bool
   tags:
     - galera-pre-yum-packages
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@
   until: install_packages|success
   retries: 5
   delay: 2
-  with_items: "{{ galera_packages }}"
+  with_items: "{{ galera_server_mariadb_distro_packages }}"
   tags:
     - galera-pre-yum-packages
 
diff --git a/vars/redhat-7.yml b/vars/redhat-7.yml
index 9e24d238..bbd0f8f3 100644
--- a/vars/redhat-7.yml
+++ b/vars/redhat-7.yml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ galera_gpg_keys:
     keyserver: 'https://yum.mariadb.org'
     fallback_keyserver: 'https://yum.mariadb.org'
 
-galera_pre_packages:
+galera_server_required_distro_packages:
   - gnupg2
   - libaio
   - libstdc++
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ percona_package_download_validate_certs: "yes"
 
 galera_mariadb_yum_server_package: "MariaDB-Galera-server"
 
-galera_packages:
+galera_server_mariadb_distro_packages:
   - which
   - "{{ galera_mariadb_yum_server_package }}"
   - MariaDB-shared
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ galera_percona_xtrabackup_repo:
   repo: "http://www.percona.com/downloads/percona-release/redhat/0.1-3/percona-release-0.1-3.noarch.rpm"
   state: "present"
 
-percona_upstream_packages:
+galera_server_percona_distro_packages:
   - qpress
   - percona-xtrabackup
 
diff --git a/vars/ubuntu-14.04.yml b/vars/ubuntu-14.04.yml
index 3700a68d..f44a64b7 100644
--- a/vars/ubuntu-14.04.yml
+++ b/vars/ubuntu-14.04.yml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 ## APT Cache Options
 cache_timeout: 600
 
-galera_pinned_packages: [{ package: "*", release: MariaDB, priority: "1001" }]
+galera_server_distro_package_pins: [{ package: "*", release: MariaDB, priority: "1001" }]
 
 # Galera GPG Keys
 galera_gpg_keys:
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ galera_gpg_keys:
     fallback_keyserver: 'hkp://p80.pool.sks-keyservers.net:80'
     hash_id: '0x1c4cbdcdcd2efd2a'
 
-galera_pre_packages:
+galera_server_required_distro_packages:
   - apt-transport-https
   - debconf-utils
   - libaio1
@@ -46,10 +46,11 @@ galera_pre_packages:
 # "galera_common" role.
 galera_mariadb_apt_server_package: "mariadb-galera-server-10.0"
 
-# NB This is specifically galera_packages as these packages only get installed
-# during the galera play - this is because of the preseed task and the service
-# startup control used when installing mariadb-galera-server and galera.
-galera_packages:
+# NB This is specifically galera_server_mariadb_distro_packages as these
+# packages only get installed during the galera play - this is because of
+# the preseed task and the service startup control used when installing
+# mariadb-galera-server and galera.
+galera_server_mariadb_distro_packages:
   - mariadb-client
   - "{{ galera_mariadb_apt_server_package }}"
   - galera-3
@@ -66,7 +67,7 @@ galera_debconf_items:
     value: "{{ galera_root_password }}"
     vtype: "string"
 
-percona_upstream_packages:
+galera_server_percona_distro_packages:
   - qpress
   - percona-xtrabackup
 
diff --git a/vars/ubuntu-16.04.yml b/vars/ubuntu-16.04.yml
index 8ebe52de..fffea5ba 100644
--- a/vars/ubuntu-16.04.yml
+++ b/vars/ubuntu-16.04.yml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 ## APT Cache Options
 cache_timeout: 600
 
-galera_pinned_packages: [{ package: "*", release: MariaDB, priority: "1001" }]
+galera_server_distro_package_pins: [{ package: "*", release: MariaDB, priority: "1001" }]
 
 # Galera GPG Keys
 galera_gpg_keys:
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ galera_gpg_keys:
     fallback_keyserver: 'hkp://p80.pool.sks-keyservers.net:80'
     hash_id: '0x1c4cbdcdcd2efd2a'
 
-galera_pre_packages:
+galera_server_required_distro_packages:
   - apt-transport-https
   - debconf-utils
   - libaio1
@@ -46,10 +46,11 @@ galera_pre_packages:
 # "galera_common" role.
 galera_mariadb_apt_server_package: "mariadb-galera-server-10.0"
 
-# NB This is specifically galera_packages as these packages only get installed
-# during the galera play - this is because of the preseed task and the service
-# startup control used when installing mariadb-galera-server and galera.
-galera_packages:
+# NB This is specifically galera_server_mariadb_distro_packages as these
+# packages only get installed during the galera play - this is because of
+# the preseed task and the service startup control used when installing
+# mariadb-galera-server and galera.
+galera_server_mariadb_distro_packages:
   - mariadb-client
   - "{{ galera_mariadb_apt_server_package }}"
   - galera-3
@@ -66,7 +67,7 @@ galera_debconf_items:
     value: "{{ galera_root_password }}"
     vtype: "string"
 
-percona_upstream_packages:
+galera_server_percona_distro_packages:
   - qpress
   - percona-xtrabackup