diff --git a/inventory/group_vars/all/ceph.yml b/inventory/group_vars/all/ceph.yml
index 9350ddb116..222fa74b0b 100644
--- a/inventory/group_vars/all/ceph.yml
+++ b/inventory/group_vars/all/ceph.yml
@@ -37,3 +37,10 @@ rbd_client_directories: false
 ceph_mons: "{{ groups[mon_group_name]
                | map('extract', hostvars, 'ansible_host')
                | list }}"
+
+# Provide a variable which can be overidden by a deployer to specify a list of
+# dicts describing RadosGW provisioned by means other than OpenStack-Ansible.
+# The ip_addr should be accessible by the haproxy internal interface.
+# - name: ceph-rgw-name
+#   ip_addr: x.x.x.x
+ceph_rgws: []
diff --git a/inventory/group_vars/haproxy/haproxy.yml b/inventory/group_vars/haproxy/haproxy.yml
index 5dcc09e898..b8374432da 100644
--- a/inventory/group_vars/haproxy/haproxy.yml
+++ b/inventory/group_vars/haproxy/haproxy.yml
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ haproxy_default_services:
       haproxy_service_enabled: "{{ neutron_plugin_type == 'ml2.opendaylight' }}"
   - service:
       haproxy_service_name: ceph-rgw
-      haproxy_backend_nodes: "{{ groups['ceph-rgw'] | default([]) }}"
+      haproxy_backend_nodes: "{{ groups['ceph-rgw'] | default(ceph_rgws) }}"
       haproxy_ssl: "{{ haproxy_ssl }}"
       haproxy_balance_alg: source
       haproxy_port: "{{ radosgw_service_port | default(7980) }}"
@@ -364,4 +364,4 @@ haproxy_default_services:
         - httpchk HEAD /
       haproxy_backend_httpcheck_options:
         - expect status 405
-      haproxy_service_enabled: "{{ groups['ceph-rgw'] is defined and groups['ceph-rgw'] | length > 0 }}"
+      haproxy_service_enabled: "{{ (groups['ceph-rgw'] is defined and groups['ceph-rgw'] | length > 0) or (ceph_rgws | length > 0) }}"
diff --git a/inventory/group_vars/utility_all.yml b/inventory/group_vars/utility_all.yml
index 910aba9b87..1a273d0a6a 100644
--- a/inventory/group_vars/utility_all.yml
+++ b/inventory/group_vars/utility_all.yml
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ tempest_service_available_heat: "{{ groups['heat_all'] is defined and groups['he
 tempest_service_available_horizon: "{{ groups['horizon_all'] is defined and groups['horizon_all'] | length > 0 }}"
 tempest_service_available_neutron: "{{ groups['neutron_all'] is defined and groups['neutron_all'] | length > 0 }}"
 tempest_service_available_nova: "{{ groups['nova_all'] is defined and groups['nova_all'] | length > 0 }}"
-tempest_service_available_swift: "{{ (groups['swift_all'] is defined and groups['swift_all'] | length > 0) or (groups['ceph-rgw'] is defined and groups['ceph-rgw'] | length > 0) }}"
+tempest_service_available_swift: "{{ (groups['swift_all'] is defined and groups['swift_all'] | length > 0) or (groups['ceph-rgw'] is defined and groups['ceph-rgw'] | length > 0) or (ceph_rgws | length > 0) }}"
 tempest_service_available_congress: "{{ groups['congress_all'] is defined and groups['congress_all'] | length > 0 }}"
 
 tempest_log_dir: /var/log/utility
diff --git a/playbooks/ceph-rgw-install.yml b/playbooks/ceph-rgw-install.yml
index 20b4064dc5..fbb6d6a746 100644
--- a/playbooks/ceph-rgw-install.yml
+++ b/playbooks/ceph-rgw-install.yml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 - include: ceph-rgw-keystone-setup.yml
-  when: groups['ceph-rgw'] is defined and groups['ceph-rgw'] | length > 0
+  when: (groups['ceph-rgw'] is defined and groups['ceph-rgw'] | length > 0) or (ceph_rgws | length > 0)
 
 - name: Install ceph radosgw
   hosts: ceph-rgw