diff --git a/playbooks/transient_cloud_instance.yml b/playbooks/transient_cloud_instance.yml
index 6f9dfd40b8..fa0ef3c9da 100644
--- a/playbooks/transient_cloud_instance.yml
+++ b/playbooks/transient_cloud_instance.yml
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@
 
   - name: install cloud-utils (dnf)
     command: dnf install -y cloud-utils
-    when: ansible_distribution_major_version > '21' and not ansible_cmdline.ostree
+    when: ansible_distribution_major_version > '21' and ansible_cmdline.ostree is not defined
 
   - include: "{{ tasks }}/cloud_setup_basic.yml"