diff --git a/playbooks/ceph.yml b/playbooks/ceph.yml
index 0a2bea363b..e39dad303d 100644
--- a/playbooks/ceph.yml
+++ b/playbooks/ceph.yml
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@
 
 - name: Distribute SSH keypair to target nodes
   tags: admin
-  hosts: "{{ cifmw_ceph_target | default('computes')  }}"
+  hosts: "{{ cifmw_ceph_target | default('computes') }}"
   gather_facts: false
   become: true
   vars:
@@ -265,7 +265,12 @@
   gather_facts: false
   vars:
     _target_hosts: "{{ groups[cifmw_ceph_target | default('computes')] | default([]) }}"
-    ansible_ssh_private_key_file: "{{ lookup('env', 'ANSIBLE_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY') }}"
+    _target: "{{ _target_hosts | first }}"
+    ansible_ssh_private_key_file: >-
+      {{
+        hostvars[_target]['ansible_ssh_private_key_file'] |
+        default(lookup('env', 'ANSIBLE_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY'))
+      }}
     cifmw_cephadm_spec_ansible_host: /tmp/ceph_spec.yml
     cifmw_cephadm_bootstrap_conf: /tmp/initial_ceph.conf
     cifmw_ceph_client_vars: /tmp/ceph_client.yml