diff --git a/inventory/group_vars/zabbix b/inventory/group_vars/zabbix
index 8205951367..1c0d0bd971 100644
--- a/inventory/group_vars/zabbix
+++ b/inventory/group_vars/zabbix
@@ -21,3 +21,15 @@ num_cpus: 4
 # the host_vars/$hostname file
 tcp_ports: [80, 443]
 notes: Test instanec for zabbix server
+
+# Template defaults are defined in the template macros
+# If we need a specific host to have different values for a macro,
+# define it here
+
+# Use the macro name as it is in Zabbix so we can search for it easily
+
+# If you remove a key, Zabbix is *not* updated - set the value to
+# "absent" instead
+
+# This is overriden at the host_var level
+zabbix_macros: {}
diff --git a/inventory/group_vars/zabbix_stg b/inventory/group_vars/zabbix_stg
index 45e8e6b26f..c058f2be59 100644
--- a/inventory/group_vars/zabbix_stg
+++ b/inventory/group_vars/zabbix_stg
@@ -22,3 +22,15 @@ num_cpus: 2
 tcp_ports: [80, 443]
 notes: Test instance for zabbix server
 zabbix_stg_matrix_roomid: "!dODrizXNtqWjiylAyh:fedora.im"
+
+# Template defaults are defined in the template macros
+# If we need a specific host to have different values for a macro,
+# define it here
+
+# Use the macro name as it is in Zabbix so we can search for it easily
+
+# If you remove a key, Zabbix is *not* updated - set the value to
+# "absent" instead
+
+# This is overriden at the host_var level
+zabbix_macros: {}
diff --git a/inventory/host_vars/ipa02.stg.iad2.fedoraproject.org b/inventory/host_vars/ipa02.stg.iad2.fedoraproject.org
index 7a438f34e2..5b678b0c89 100644
--- a/inventory/host_vars/ipa02.stg.iad2.fedoraproject.org
+++ b/inventory/host_vars/ipa02.stg.iad2.fedoraproject.org
@@ -8,3 +8,8 @@ ks_repo: https://infrastructure.fedoraproject.org/repo/rhel/RHEL9-x86_64/
 ks_url: https://infrastructure.fedoraproject.org/repo/rhel/ks/kvm-rhel
 vmhost: vmhost-x86-02.stg.iad2.fedoraproject.org
 volgroup: /dev/vg_guests
+
+# see group_vars/zabbix_stg for details
+zabbix_macros:
+  VFS.DEV.READ.AWAIT.WARN: 30
+  VFS.DEV.WRITE.AWAIT.WARN: 30
diff --git a/inventory/host_vars/ipa03.stg.iad2.fedoraproject.org b/inventory/host_vars/ipa03.stg.iad2.fedoraproject.org
index c430db777f..ad4e0ac293 100644
--- a/inventory/host_vars/ipa03.stg.iad2.fedoraproject.org
+++ b/inventory/host_vars/ipa03.stg.iad2.fedoraproject.org
@@ -8,3 +8,8 @@ ks_repo: https://infrastructure.fedoraproject.org/repo/rhel/RHEL9-x86_64/
 ks_url: https://infrastructure.fedoraproject.org/repo/rhel/ks/kvm-rhel
 vmhost: vmhost-x86-02.stg.iad2.fedoraproject.org
 volgroup: /dev/vg_guests
+
+# see group_vars/zabbix_stg for details
+zabbix_macros:
+  VFS.DEV.READ.AWAIT.WARN: 30
+  VFS.DEV.WRITE.AWAIT.WARN: 30
diff --git a/roles/zabbix/zabbix_agent/tasks/macros.yml b/roles/zabbix/zabbix_agent/tasks/macros.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c9805f1748
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/zabbix/zabbix_agent/tasks/macros.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+---
+# This applies any host-level overrides to macro (variable) values in Zabbix.
+# It's applied through the base agent role, but will work for the macros in
+# *any* template, since unused macros will be ignored anyway.
+
+- name: Set Host-level macros
+  loop: "{{ lookup('dict', zabbix_macros, wantlist=True) }}"
+  vars:
+    ansible_zabbix_auth_key: "{{ (env == 'staging') | ternary(zabbix_stg_apikey, zabbix_apikey) }}"
+    ansible_network_os: community.zabbix.zabbix
+    ansible_connection: httpapi
+    ansible_httpapi_port: 443
+    ansible_httpapi_use_ssl: true
+    ansible_httpapi_validate_certs: false
+    ansible_host: "{{ (env == 'staging') | ternary(zabbix_stg_hostname, zabbix_hostname) }}"
+    ansible_zabbix_url_path: ""
+  community.zabbix.zabbix_hostmacro:
+    host_name: "{{ inventory_hostname }}"
+    macro_name: "{{ item.key }}"
+    macro_value: "{{ item.value }}"
+    state: "{{ 'absent' if item.value == 'absent' else 'present' }}"
+  tags:
+    - zabbix_macros
diff --git a/roles/zabbix/zabbix_agent/tasks/main.yml b/roles/zabbix/zabbix_agent/tasks/main.yml
index c32742dd3b..592f23c16b 100644
--- a/roles/zabbix/zabbix_agent/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/zabbix/zabbix_agent/tasks/main.yml
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@
     - zabbix_agent
 
 - name: Enabling Zabbix service
-  service:
+  ansible.builtin.service:
     name: "{{ item }}"
     state: started
     enabled: yes
@@ -118,4 +118,10 @@
   tags:
     - zabbix_agent
 
-- include_tasks: tools.yml
+- name: Configure Zabbix tools
+  ansible.builtin.include_tasks: tools.yml
+
+- name: Configure Zabbix macros / variables
+  ansible.builtin.include_tasks: macros.yml
+  tags:
+    - zabbix_macros