diff --git a/ansible/group_vars/all/kolla b/ansible/group_vars/all/kolla
index 88bf93c3f..dee9eceae 100644
--- a/ansible/group_vars/all/kolla
+++ b/ansible/group_vars/all/kolla
@@ -494,7 +494,7 @@ kolla_enable_heat: "{{ kolla_enable_openstack_core | bool }}"
 kolla_enable_horizon: "{{ kolla_enable_openstack_core | bool }}"
 kolla_enable_influxdb: "{{ kolla_enable_monasca | bool or kolla_enable_cloudkitty | bool }}"
 kolla_enable_ironic_ipxe: "no"
-kolla_enable_ironic: "{{ kolla_enable_openstack_core | bool }}"
+kolla_enable_ironic: "no"
 kolla_enable_ironic_neutron_agent: "{{ kolla_enable_neutron | bool and kolla_enable_ironic | bool }}"
 kolla_enable_iscsid: "{{ (kolla_enable_cinder | bool and kolla_enable_cinder_backend_iscsi | bool) or kolla_enable_ironic | bool }}"
 kolla_enable_karbor: "no"
diff --git a/playbooks/kayobe-overcloud-base/overrides.yml.j2 b/playbooks/kayobe-overcloud-base/overrides.yml.j2
index bea6e2e98..9e258083b 100644
--- a/playbooks/kayobe-overcloud-base/overrides.yml.j2
+++ b/playbooks/kayobe-overcloud-base/overrides.yml.j2
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@ pip_index_url: "http://{{ zuul_site_mirror_fqdn }}/pypi/simple"
 aio_bridge_ports:
   - dummy1
 
+# Enable ironic for testing baremetal compute.
+kolla_enable_ironic: true
+
 {% if tls_enabled %}
 kolla_enable_tls_external: "yes"
 kolla_enable_tls_internal: "yes"
diff --git a/playbooks/kayobe-overcloud-upgrade-base/overrides.yml.j2 b/playbooks/kayobe-overcloud-upgrade-base/overrides.yml.j2
index 9fec45fdd..40e43cb1a 100644
--- a/playbooks/kayobe-overcloud-upgrade-base/overrides.yml.j2
+++ b/playbooks/kayobe-overcloud-upgrade-base/overrides.yml.j2
@@ -26,3 +26,6 @@ pip_index_url: "http://{{ zuul_site_mirror_fqdn }}/pypi/simple"
 # are using for SSH to be removed. Use a dummy interface.
 aio_bridge_ports:
   - dummy1
+
+# Enable ironic for testing baremetal compute.
+kolla_enable_ironic: true
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/default-disable-ironic-2c20b8a7e69f19c5.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/default-disable-ironic-2c20b8a7e69f19c5.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0ee3d403b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/default-disable-ironic-2c20b8a7e69f19c5.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+upgrade:
+  - |
+    Ironic is now disabled by default in the overcloud. This brings Kayobe's
+    default set of services into line with Kolla Ansible. For environments
+    using Ironic in the overcloud, set ``kolla_enable_ironic`` to ``true`` in
+    ``kolla.yml``.