diff --git a/roles/httpd/certificate/tasks/main.yml b/roles/httpd/certificate/tasks/main.yml
index 4d892ff798..7ba2a24ffd 100644
--- a/roles/httpd/certificate/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/httpd/certificate/tasks/main.yml
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@
     group=root
     mode=0644
   with_first_found:
-  - {{private}}/httpd/{{name}}.cert
-  - {{cert}}
+  - "{{cert}}"
+  - "{{private}}/httpd/{{name}}.cert"
   notify:
   - restart httpd
   tags:
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@
     group=root
     mode=0600
   with_first_found:
-  - {{private}}/httpd/{{name}}.key
-  - {{key}}
+  - "{{key}}"
+  - "{{private}}/httpd/{{name}}.key"
   notify:
   - restart httpd
   tags:
diff --git a/roles/httpd/certificate/vars/main.yml b/roles/httpd/certificate/vars/main.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..46dde4dd79
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/httpd/certificate/vars/main.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+cert: this-file-does-not-exist-and-must-be-overridden
+key: this-file-does-not-exist-and-must-be-overridden