diff --git a/playbooks/groups/sundries.yml b/playbooks/groups/sundries.yml
index 9e3f0da0f1..c695ee33bf 100644
--- a/playbooks/groups/sundries.yml
+++ b/playbooks/groups/sundries.yml
@@ -26,11 +26,11 @@
   - geoip
   - geoip-city-wsgi/app
   - role: easyfix/gather
-    when: master_sundries_node
+    when: master_sundries_node|bool
   - role: regindexer/build
-    when: master_sundries_node
+    when: master_sundries_node|bool
   - role: bz_review_report
-    when: master_sundries_node and env != "staging"
+    when: master_sundries_node|bool and env != "staging"
   - rsyncd
   - freemedia
   - sudo
@@ -38,21 +38,21 @@
   - { role: openvpn/client,
       when: env != "staging" }
   - role: review-stats/build
-    when: master_sundries_node
+    when: master_sundries_node|bool
   - role: zanata
-    when: master_sundries_node
+    when: master_sundries_node|bool
   - role: fedora-web/build
-    when: master_sundries_node
+    when: master_sundries_node|bool
   - role: fedora-budget/build
-    when: master_sundries_node
+    when: master_sundries_node|bool
   - role: fedora-docs/build
-    when: master_sundries_node
+    when: master_sundries_node|bool
   - role: membership-map/build
-    when: master_sundries_node
+    when: master_sundries_node|bool
   - role: developer/build
-    when: master_sundries_node
+    when: master_sundries_node|bool
   - role: fedmsg/base
-    when: master_sundries_node
+    when: master_sundries_node|bool
   - role: nfs/client
     mnt_dir: '/srv/docs'
     nfs_src_dir: 'openshift_{{ env_short }}_docs'
diff --git a/playbooks/groups/virthost.yml b/playbooks/groups/virthost.yml
index 94241690e1..1d1c498f2d 100644
--- a/playbooks/groups/virthost.yml
+++ b/playbooks/groups/virthost.yml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
   - collectd/base
   - { role: iscsi_client, when: "inventory_hostname.startswith(('bvirthost', 'buildvmhost'))" }
   - sudo
-  - { role: openvpn/client, when: vpn }
+  - { role: openvpn/client, when: vpn|bool }
   - virthost
 
   tasks:
diff --git a/roles/base/tasks/main.yml b/roles/base/tasks/main.yml
index 6df3cd0bb6..ea90aa0bc3 100644
--- a/roles/base/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/base/tasks/main.yml
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@
    - iptables/iptables.{{ host_group }}
    - iptables/iptables.{{ env }}
    - iptables/iptables
-  when: baseiptables
+  when: baseiptables|bool
   notify:
   - restart iptables
   - reload libvirtd
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@
   - iptables
   - service
   - base
-  when: baseiptables
+  when: baseiptables|bool
 
 - name: ip6tables
   template: src={{ item }} dest=/etc/sysconfig/ip6tables mode=0600 backup=yes
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@
    - iptables/ip6tables.{{ host_group }}
    - iptables/ip6tables.{{ env }}
    - iptables/ip6tables
-  when: baseiptables
+  when: baseiptables|bool
   notify:
   - restart ip6tables
   - reload libvirtd
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@
   - ip6tables
   - service
   - base
-  when: baseiptables
+  when: baseiptables|bool
 
 - name: enable journald persistence
   file: path=/var/log/journal state=directory