diff --git a/Vagrantfile b/Vagrantfile
index b01ce610f..ff1277315 100644
--- a/Vagrantfile
+++ b/Vagrantfile
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ ansible_provision = proc do |ansible|
     ansible.extra_vars = {
       fsid: '4a158d27-f750-41d5-9e7f-26ce4c9d2d45',
       monitor_secret: 'AQAWqilTCDh7CBAAawXt6kyTgLFCxSvJhTEmuw==',
+      journal_size: 100,
     }
   end
   ansible.limit = 'all'
diff --git a/group_vars/all b/group_vars/all
index f8ce976b5..9b93157ca 100644
--- a/group_vars/all
+++ b/group_vars/all
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ dummy:
 
 ## OSD options
 #
-#journal_size: 100
+#journal_size: 0
 #pool_default_pg_num: 128
 #pool_default_pgp_num: 128
 #pool_default_size: 2
diff --git a/roles/ceph-common/defaults/main.yml b/roles/ceph-common/defaults/main.yml
index b5d25afbf..9888a9b6d 100644
--- a/roles/ceph-common/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/roles/ceph-common/defaults/main.yml
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ mon_osd_report_timeout: 300
 
 ## OSD options
 #
-journal_size: 100
+journal_size: 0
 pool_default_pg_num: 128
 pool_default_pgp_num: 128
 pool_default_size: 2
diff --git a/roles/ceph-common/tasks/main.yml b/roles/ceph-common/tasks/main.yml
index c65432262..791b0d43c 100644
--- a/roles/ceph-common/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/ceph-common/tasks/main.yml
@@ -35,6 +35,10 @@
   register: cluster_uuid
   changed_when: False
 
+- name: Make sure journal_size configured
+  fail: msg="journal_size must be configured. See http://ceph.com/docs/master/rados/configuration/osd-config-ref/"
+  when: journal_size|int == 0
+
 - name: Generate Ceph configuration file
   template: >
     src=ceph.conf.j2