diff --git a/roles/virthost/tasks/main.yml b/roles/virthost/tasks/main.yml
index de69686ed2..8d0dac85f8 100644
--- a/roles/virthost/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/virthost/tasks/main.yml
@@ -47,6 +47,16 @@
   - packages
   when: ansible_distribution == 'RedHat' and ansible_distribution_major_version|int == 7 and ansible_architecture != 'aarch64'
 
+- name: install libvirt packages on rhel8 virthosts
+  package: name={{ item }} state=present
+  with_items:
+  - qemu-kvm
+  - libvirt
+  - virt-install
+  tags:
+  - packages
+  when: ansible_distribution == 'RedHat' and ansible_distribution_major_version|int == 8
+
 - name: install AAVMF uEFI tianocore on aarch64 rhel7 virthosts
   package: name={{ item }} state=present
   with_items: