diff --git a/tasks/virt_instance_create.yml b/tasks/virt_instance_create.yml
index 11049df28b..914f9622c5 100644
--- a/tasks/virt_instance_create.yml
+++ b/tasks/virt_instance_create.yml
@@ -65,6 +65,12 @@
   tags:
     - armv7-kernel
 
+- name: ARMv7 pause while VM updates
+  pause: seconds=5
+  when: inventory_hostname.startswith('buildvm-armv7') and inventory_hostname not in result.list_vms
+  tags:
+    - armv7-kernel
+
 - name: start the vm up
   virt: state=started name={{ inventory_hostname }}
   delegate_to: "{{ vmhost }}"