diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
index 4bcc0c4b..5310d60e 100644
--- a/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -113,8 +113,8 @@ galera_wsrep_provider_options:
 galera_wsrep_sst_auth_user: "root"
 galera_wsrep_sst_auth_password: "{{ galera_root_password  }}"
 
-# Enable compression of backups. Qpress is only availabe for x86_64
-galera_xtrabackup_compression: "{{ (ansible_architecture == 'x86_64') | ternary(true, false) }}"
+# Enable compression of backups.
+galera_xtrabackup_compression: "{{ (ansible_architecture == 'x86_64') or (ansible_architecture == 'ppc64le' and ansible_distribution == 'Ubuntu') }}"
 # xtrabackup parallel/compression/sync threads
 galera_xtrabackup_threads: 4
 
@@ -193,3 +193,13 @@ galera_disable_privatedevices: "{{ _galera_disable_privatedevices }}"
 ## Set default mirror for openSUSE repositories
 # NOTE(hwoarang): Ensure that the full path to the 'opensuse' directory is used.
 #galera_server_opensuse_mirror_obs_url: "http://widehat.opensuse.org"
+
+# Where the extra package download is executed from.
+# Options are ['deployment-host', 'target-host']
+galera_server_extra_package_downloader: "deployment-host"
+
+# The location where the extra packages are downloaded to
+galera_server_extra_package_path: "/opt/cache/files"
+
+# Toggle whether certificate validation should be enabled/disabled
+galera_server_extra_package_validate_certs: yes
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/ppc64le-var-changes-84aa4f3f9bb0ef52.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/ppc64le-var-changes-84aa4f3f9bb0ef52.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6075e8dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/ppc64le-var-changes-84aa4f3f9bb0ef52.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+---
+features:
+  - |
+    The extra packages percona packages used by the ppc64le
+    are now downloaded by the Ansible deployment host by
+    default, as opposed to the target hosts. Once downloaded
+    the packages are pushed up to the target hosts.
+    This behaviour may be adjusted by setting
+    ``galera_server_extra_package_downloader`` to
+    ``target-host``.
+    The packages are downloaded to the path set in
+    ``galera_server_extra_package_path``.
+deprecations:
+  - |
+    The following variables have been removed as they no
+    longer serve any purpose.
+
+    * ``galera_package_arch``
+    * ``percona_package_download_validate_certs``
+    * ``percona_package_url``
+    * ``percona_package_fallback_url``
+    * ``percona_package_sha256``
+    * ``percona_package_path``
+    * ``qpress_package_download_validate_certs``
+    * ``qpress_package_url``
+    * ``qpress_package_fallback_url``
+    * ``qpress_package_sha256``
+    * ``qpress_package_path``
+
+    The functionality previously using these variables has
+    been transitioned to using a simpler data structure.
diff --git a/tasks/galera_install.yml b/tasks/galera_install.yml
index a2cd0b66..6f901894 100644
--- a/tasks/galera_install.yml
+++ b/tasks/galera_install.yml
@@ -13,22 +13,31 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-- name: Add percona packages to the galera packages list
+- name: Prepare the package list
   set_fact:
-    galera_packages_list: "{{ galera_server_required_distro_packages + galera_server_mariadb_distro_packages + galera_server_percona_distro_packages }}"
+    galera_packages_list: |-
+      {% set packages = galera_server_required_distro_packages + galera_server_mariadb_distro_packages %}
+      {% if ansible_architecture == 'x86_64' %}
+      {%   set _ = packages.extend(galera_server_percona_distro_packages) %}
+      {% endif %}
+      {% if ansible_architecture == 'ppc64le' and ansible_distribution == 'Ubuntu' %}
+      {%   for extra_package in galera_server_percona_distro_packages_alt_arch['ansible_architecture'] %}
+      {%     set _package_path = galera_server_extra_package_path ~ '/' ~ ansible_architecture %}
+      {%     set _ = packages.append(_package_path ~ '/' ~ extra_package['url'] | basename) %}
+      {%   endfor %}
+      {% endif %}
+      {{ packages }}
+
+- name: Download the extra packages
+  include_tasks: galera_install_download_extra_packages.yml
+  when:
+    - ansible_architecture == 'ppc64le'
 
 - name: Remove conflicting distro packages
   package:
     name: "{{ galera_server_mariadb_distro_packages_remove | default([]) }}"
     state: absent
 
-- name: Fail if compression is enabled on unsupported architecture
-  fail:
-    msg: "qpress compression is only available on x86_64 architectures"
-  when:
-    - galera_xtrabackup_compression | bool
-    - ansible_architecture != 'x86_64'
-
 - include_tasks: "galera_install_{{ ansible_pkg_mgr }}.yml"
 
 - name: Install pip packages
diff --git a/tasks/galera_install_apt.yml b/tasks/galera_install_apt.yml
index 42b77bbb..743fe522 100644
--- a/tasks/galera_install_apt.yml
+++ b/tasks/galera_install_apt.yml
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@
   retries: 5
   delay: 2
 
-- name: Remove policy-rc
+- name: Remove policy-rc now that the package install is complete
   file:
     path: "/usr/sbin/policy-rc.d"
     state: absent
diff --git a/tasks/galera_install_download_extra_packages.yml b/tasks/galera_install_download_extra_packages.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a6692337
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tasks/galera_install_download_extra_packages.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+---
+# Copyright 2016, Rackspace US, Inc.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+- name: Ensure that galera_server_extra_package_paths exist
+  file:
+    path: "{{ galera_server_extra_package_path }}/{{ item.key }}"
+    state: directory
+  with_dict: "{{ galera_server_percona_distro_packages_alt_arch }}"
+  delegate_to: "{{ (galera_server_extra_package_downloader == 'deployment-host') | ternary('localhost', omit) }}"
+
+- name: Download extra packages
+  get_url:
+    url: "{{ item.value.url }}"
+    dest: "{{ galera_server_extra_package_path }}/{{ item.key }}/"
+    checksum: "{{ item.value.checksum | default(omit) }}"
+    force: "{{ item.value.checksum is not defined }}"
+    validate_certs: "{{ galera_server_extra_package_validate_certs }}"
+  with_dict: "{{ galera_server_percona_distro_packages_alt_arch }}"
+  register: fetch_url
+  until: fetch_url | success
+  retries: 3
+  delay: 10
+  delegate_to: "{{ (galera_server_extra_package_downloader == 'deployment-host') | ternary('localhost', omit) }}"
+
+- name: Copy downloaded packages from deployment-host to target-host
+  copy:
+    src: "{{ galera_server_extra_package_path }}/{{ item.key }}/{{ item.value.url | basename }}"
+    dest: "{{ galera_server_extra_package_path }}/{{ item.key }}/"
+  with_dict: "{{ galera_server_percona_distro_packages_alt_arch }}"
+  when:
+    - galera_server_extra_package_downloader == "deployment-host"
+  register: file_copy
+  until: file_copy | success
+  retries: 5
+  delay: 10
diff --git a/tasks/main.yml b/tasks/main.yml
index f4ec05ac..1bf309c3 100644
--- a/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/tasks/main.yml
@@ -29,6 +29,15 @@
   tags:
     - always
 
+- name: Fail if compression is enabled on unsupported architecture/distro
+  fail:
+    msg: |
+      qpress compression is only supported for x86_64 and for Ubuntu/ppc64le
+  when:
+    - galera_xtrabackup_compression | bool
+    - (ansible_architecture != 'x86_64') and
+      not (ansible_architecture == 'ppc64le' and ansible_distribution == 'Ubuntu')
+
 - name: Gather variables for each operating system
   include_vars: "{{ item }}"
   with_first_found:
diff --git a/vars/redhat-7.yml b/vars/redhat-7.yml
index a5470d25..5c003ebd 100644
--- a/vars/redhat-7.yml
+++ b/vars/redhat-7.yml
@@ -82,4 +82,4 @@ galera_server_percona_distro_packages:
 
 galera_wsrep_provider: "/usr/lib/galera/libgalera_smm.so"
 
-_use_percona_upstream: yes
+_use_percona_upstream: "{{ ansible_architecture == 'x86_64' }}"
diff --git a/vars/ubuntu-16.04.yml b/vars/ubuntu-16.04.yml
index 0682fd27..9100168f 100644
--- a/vars/ubuntu-16.04.yml
+++ b/vars/ubuntu-16.04.yml
@@ -101,4 +101,11 @@ _galera_repo:
 
 galera_wsrep_provider: "/usr/lib/galera/libgalera_smm.so"
 
-_use_percona_upstream: yes
+_use_percona_upstream: "{{ ansible_architecture == 'x86_64' }}"
+
+galera_server_percona_distro_packages_alt_arch:
+  ppc64le:
+    - url: "http://public.dhe.ibm.com/systems/virtualization/Novalink/misc/percona-xtrabackup/percona-xtrabackup-24_2.4.5-1_ppc64el.deb"
+      checksum: "sha256:3d4e4112f4c8020c9190a91d962dabed1dfaad307160a939e121208887eaee2a"
+    - url: "http://public.dhe.ibm.com/systems/virtualization/Novalink/misc/qpress/qpress_11-1_ppc64el.deb"
+      checksum: "sha256:a31d3e00dbcec9b3f98eae82b261d054d0b80a57f4a38967d0e953811cb082f3"