diff --git a/playbooks/roles/galera_client/defaults/main.yml b/playbooks/roles/galera_client/defaults/main.yml
index 896b7e35ca..20f1d007ae 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/galera_client/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/galera_client/defaults/main.yml
@@ -25,8 +25,10 @@ galera_client_gpg_keys:
     hash_id: '0xcbcb082a1bb943db'
 
 # Repositories
-galera_client_apt_repos:
-  - { repo: "deb http://mirror.rackspace.com/mariadb/repo/5.5/ubuntu {{ ansible_distribution_release }} main", state: "present" }
+galera_client_apt_repo_url: "http://mirror.rackspace.com/mariadb/repo/5.5/ubuntu"
+galera_client_apt_repo:
+  repo: "deb {{ galera_client_apt_repo_url }} {{ ansible_distribution_release }} main"
+  state: "present"
 
 galera_client_apt_packages:
   - libmariadbclient-dev
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/galera_client/tasks/galera_client_pre_install.yml b/playbooks/roles/galera_client/tasks/galera_client_pre_install.yml
index 5a488ac0a4..aa9b76619e 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/galera_client/tasks/galera_client_pre_install.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/galera_client/tasks/galera_client_pre_install.yml
@@ -40,11 +40,20 @@
   tags:
     - galera-client-apt-keys
 
+- name: Drop galera repo pin
+  template:
+    src: "galera_client_pin.pref.j2"
+    dest: "/etc/apt/preferences.d/galera_client_pin.pref"
+    owner: "root"
+    group: "root"
+    mode: "0644"
+  tags:
+    - galera-client-repo-pin
+
 - name: Add galera repo(s)
   apt_repository:
-    repo: "{{ item.repo }}"
-    state: "{{ item.state }}"
-  with_items: galera_client_apt_repos
+    repo: "{{ galera_client_apt_repo.repo }}"
+    state: "{{ galera_client_apt_repo.state }}"
   register: add_repos
   until: add_repos|success
   retries: 5
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/galera_client/templates/galera_client_pin.pref.j2 b/playbooks/roles/galera_client/templates/galera_client_pin.pref.j2
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0d2a6e5c22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playbooks/roles/galera_client/templates/galera_client_pin.pref.j2
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# {{ ansible_managed }}
+
+Package: *
+Pin: release o=MariaDB
+Pin-Priority: 1001
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/galera_server/defaults/main.yml b/playbooks/roles/galera_server/defaults/main.yml
index 6dfe4a97e1..924f49e0af 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/galera_server/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/galera_server/defaults/main.yml
@@ -52,8 +52,10 @@ galera_gpg_keys:
     hash_id: '0xcbcb082a1bb943db'
 
 # Repositories
-galera_apt_repos:
-  - { repo: "deb http://mirror.rackspace.com/mariadb/repo/5.5/ubuntu {{ ansible_distribution_release }} main", state: "present" }
+galera_apt_repo_url: "http://mirror.rackspace.com/mariadb/repo/5.5/ubuntu"
+galera_apt_repo:
+  repo: "deb {{ galera_apt_repo_url }} {{ ansible_distribution_release }} main"
+  state: "present"
 
 galera_pip_packages:
   - MySQL-python
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/galera_server/tasks/galera_pre_install.yml b/playbooks/roles/galera_server/tasks/galera_pre_install.yml
index d7267e8e11..2d816d90d2 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/galera_server/tasks/galera_pre_install.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/galera_server/tasks/galera_pre_install.yml
@@ -55,11 +55,20 @@
   tags:
     - galera-apt-keys
 
+- name: Drop galera repo pin
+  template:
+    src: "galera_pin.pref.j2"
+    dest: "/etc/apt/preferences.d/galera_pin.pref"
+    owner: "root"
+    group: "root"
+    mode: "0644"
+  tags:
+    - galera-repo-pin
+
 - name: Add galera repo(s)
   apt_repository:
-    repo: "{{ item.repo }}"
-    state: "{{ item.state }}"
-  with_items: galera_apt_repos
+    repo: "{{ galera_apt_repo.repo }}"
+    state: "{{ galera_apt_repo.state }}"
   register: add_repos
   until: add_repos|success
   retries: 5
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/galera_server/templates/galera_pin.pref.j2 b/playbooks/roles/galera_server/templates/galera_pin.pref.j2
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0d2a6e5c22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playbooks/roles/galera_server/templates/galera_pin.pref.j2
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# {{ ansible_managed }}
+
+Package: *
+Pin: release o=MariaDB
+Pin-Priority: 1001
diff --git a/scripts/bootstrap-aio.sh b/scripts/bootstrap-aio.sh
index 18ddcb7f74..073c23a081 100755
--- a/scripts/bootstrap-aio.sh
+++ b/scripts/bootstrap-aio.sh
@@ -86,8 +86,13 @@ if [ ! "$(grep -e '^nameserver 8.8.8.8' -e '^nameserver 8.8.4.4' /etc/resolv.con
   echo -e '\n# Adding google name servers\nnameserver 8.8.8.8\nnameserver 8.8.4.4' | tee -a /etc/resolv.conf
 fi
 
-# Update the package cache and install required packages
+# Update the package cache
 apt-get update
+
+# Remove known conflicting packages in the base image
+apt-get purge -y libmysqlclient18 mysql-common
+
+# Install required packages
 apt-get install -y python-dev \
                    python2.7 \
                    build-essential \