diff --git a/roles/kubespray-defaults/defaults/main.yaml b/roles/kubespray-defaults/defaults/main.yaml
index 732fe2b5af8..5abffdece02 100644
--- a/roles/kubespray-defaults/defaults/main.yaml
+++ b/roles/kubespray-defaults/defaults/main.yaml
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@ kubelet_shutdown_grace_period: 60s
 kubelet_shutdown_grace_period_critical_pods: 20s
 
 # Whether to deploy the container engine
-deploy_container_engine: inventory_hostname in groups['k8s_cluster'] or etcd_deployment_type != 'host'
+deploy_container_engine: "{{ inventory_hostname in groups['k8s_cluster'] or etcd_deployment_type != 'host' }}"
 
 # Container for runtime
 container_manager: containerd