diff --git a/infrastructure-playbooks/purge-cluster.yml b/infrastructure-playbooks/purge-cluster.yml
index 58b049fd1..1ceecfed3 100644
--- a/infrastructure-playbooks/purge-cluster.yml
+++ b/infrastructure-playbooks/purge-cluster.yml
@@ -506,6 +506,11 @@
       state: absent
     when: ansible_os_family == 'RedHat'
 
+  - name: check for anything running ceph
+    command: "ps -u ceph -U ceph"
+    register: check_for_running_ceph
+    failed_when: check_for_running_ceph.rc == 0
+
 
 - name: purge fetch directory