diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
index 7fe0a9d..fe04da8 100644
--- a/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ php_apc_enabled_in_ini: false
 php_apc_cache_by_default: "1"
 php_apc_shm_size: "96M"
 php_date_timezone: "America/Chicago"
-php_packages: []
 php_enable_webserver: true
 php_webserver_daemon: "httpd"
 
diff --git a/tasks/main.yml b/tasks/main.yml
index 3d4fd3f..7c519d9 100644
--- a/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/tasks/main.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 - name: Include OS-specific variables.
   include_vars: "{{ ansible_os_family }}.yml"
 
+- name: Define php_packages.
+  set_fact: php_packages="{{ __php_packages | list }}"
+  when: php_packages is not defined
+
 - name: Ensure PHP packages are installed (RedHat).
   yum: >
     name={{ item }}
diff --git a/vars/Debian.yml b/vars/Debian.yml
index 71f9dbb..bf4c5c1 100644
--- a/vars/Debian.yml
+++ b/vars/Debian.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 php_conf_path: /etc/php5/apache2
 php_extension_conf_path: /etc/php5/conf.d
 php_apc_conf_filename: 20-apc.ini
-php_packages:
+__php_packages:
   - php5
   - libapache2-mod-php5
   - php5-mcrypt
@@ -12,6 +12,4 @@ php_packages:
   - php5-dev
   - php5-fpm
   - php5-gd
-  - php5-ldap
-  - php-apc
 php_webserver_daemon: "apache2"
diff --git a/vars/RedHat.yml b/vars/RedHat.yml
index ddfcea1..efd323e 100644
--- a/vars/RedHat.yml
+++ b/vars/RedHat.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 php_conf_path: /etc
 php_extension_conf_path: /etc/php.d
 php_apc_conf_filename: apc.ini
-php_packages:
+__php_packages:
   - ImageMagick
   - php
   - php-cli