diff --git a/roles/libvirt/setup/undercloud/tasks/main.yml b/roles/libvirt/setup/undercloud/tasks/main.yml
index 2abea7bf6..5bbdaec82 100644
--- a/roles/libvirt/setup/undercloud/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/libvirt/setup/undercloud/tasks/main.yml
@@ -102,9 +102,7 @@
   - name: Add virt power key to root authorized keys if using qemu:///system
     authorized_key:
       user: root
-      key: "{{ item }}"
-    with_file:
-      - "{{ virt_power_key }}.pub"
+      key: "{{ lookup('file', virt_power_key|quote + '.pub')|default('') }}"
     when: libvirt_uri == "qemu:///system"
 
   # Copy the public key to `$HOME/.ssh/authorized_keys` for the `root`
diff --git a/roles/libvirt/setup/user/tasks/main.yml b/roles/libvirt/setup/user/tasks/main.yml
index 9bb8d115b..a26bcc973 100644
--- a/roles/libvirt/setup/user/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/libvirt/setup/user/tasks/main.yml
@@ -35,15 +35,11 @@
 - name: Read virt_power private key
   no_log: True
   set_fact:
-    virt_power_key_pvt: "{{ item }}"
-  with_file:
-    - "{{ virt_power_key }}"
+    virt_power_key_pvt: "{{ lookup('file', virt_power_key)|default('') }}"
 
 - name: add virt_power_key to remote authorized_keys
   authorized_key:
     user: "{{ ansible_user_id }}"
-    key: "{{ item }}"
+    key: "{{ lookup('file', virt_power_key|quote + '.pub')|default('') }}"
     manage_dir: true
-  with_file:
-    - "{{ virt_power_key }}.pub"
 
diff --git a/roles/provision/remote/tasks/main.yml b/roles/provision/remote/tasks/main.yml
index 6ae8bc801..f4b2549fc 100644
--- a/roles/provision/remote/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/provision/remote/tasks/main.yml
@@ -57,9 +57,7 @@
 - name: Configure non-root user authorized_keys
   authorized_key:
     user: "{{ ssh_user }}"
-    key: "{{ item }}"
-  with_file:
-    - "{{ virt_host_key }}.pub"
+    key: "{{ lookup('file', virt_host_key|quote + '.pub')|default('') }}"
   become: true
 
 - name: Ensure polkit packages are installed