diff --git a/roles/ceph-mon/tasks/deploy_monitors.yml b/roles/ceph-mon/tasks/deploy_monitors.yml
index ef90ccb1c..5a262f07f 100644
--- a/roles/ceph-mon/tasks/deploy_monitors.yml
+++ b/roles/ceph-mon/tasks/deploy_monitors.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 - name: check if monitor initial keyring already exists
   command: >
-    {{ container_exec_cmd | default('') }} ceph --cluster ceph --name mon. -k
+    {{ hostvars[groups[mon_group_name][0]]['container_exec_cmd'] | default('') }} ceph --cluster ceph --name mon. -k
     /var/lib/ceph/mon/{{ cluster }}-{{ hostvars[groups[mon_group_name][0]]['ansible_hostname'] }}/keyring
     auth get-key mon.
   register: initial_mon_key