diff --git a/playbooks/roles/repo_server/defaults/main.yml b/playbooks/roles/repo_server/defaults/main.yml
index 95f0470112..963d61bd6c 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/repo_server/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/repo_server/defaults/main.yml
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@ repo_auto_rebuild: false
 
 repo_memcached_servers: "{% for host in groups['repo_all'] %}{{ hostvars[host]['ansible_ssh_host'] }}:{{ memcached_port }}{% if not loop.last %},{% endif %}{% endfor %}"
 
+# If you want to regenerate the repo users SSH keys, on each run, set this var to True
+# Otherwise keys will be generated on the first run and not regenerated each run.
+repo_recreate_keys: False
+
 repo_apt_packages:
   - aptitude
   - bridge-utils
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/repo_server/tasks/main.yml b/playbooks/roles/repo_server/tasks/main.yml
index 6d5f0e9a33..f33b4843c7 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/repo_server/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/repo_server/tasks/main.yml
@@ -17,16 +17,10 @@
 - include: repo_install.yml
 - include: repo_post_install.yml
 
-- include: repo_key_create.yml
-
-- include: repo_key_store.yml
-  when: >
-    inventory_hostname == groups['pkg_repo'][0] and
-    groups.repo_all|length > 1
+- include: repo_key_populate.yml
 
 - include: repo_key_distribute.yml
   when: >
-    inventory_hostname != groups['pkg_repo'][0] and
     groups.repo_all|length > 1
 
 - include: repo_sync_manager.yml
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/repo_server/tasks/repo_key_create.yml b/playbooks/roles/repo_server/tasks/repo_key_create.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 86101ec814..0000000000
--- a/playbooks/roles/repo_server/tasks/repo_key_create.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,54 +0,0 @@
----
-# Copyright 2014, Rackspace US, Inc.
-#
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-- name: Remove old key file(s) if found
-  file:
-    path: "{{ item }}"
-    state: "absent"
-  with_items:
-    - "{{ repo_service_home_folder }}/.ssh/authorized_keys"
-    - "{{ repo_service_home_folder }}/.ssh/id_rsa"
-    - "{{ repo_service_home_folder }}/.ssh/id_rsa.pub"
-
-- name: Create the nginx SSH key if it doesnt exist
-  shell: |
-    su - nginx -c 'ssh-keygen -f {{ repo_service_home_folder }}/.ssh/id_rsa -t rsa -q -N ""'
-
-- name: Create empty 'authorized_keys' file
-  file:
-    path: "{{ repo_service_home_folder }}/.ssh/authorized_keys"
-    state: "touch"
-
-- name: Change permissions on the generated keys
-  file:
-    path: "{{ item.path }}"
-    group: "www-data"
-    owner: "nginx"
-    mode: "{{ item.mode }}"
-  with_items:
-    - { path: "{{ repo_service_home_folder }}/.ssh/authorized_keys", mode: "0700" }
-    - { path: "{{ repo_service_home_folder }}/.ssh/id_rsa", mode: "0600" }
-    - { path: "{{ repo_service_home_folder }}/.ssh/id_rsa.pub", mode: "0644" }
-
-- name: Get public key contents
-  command: |
-    cat {{ repo_service_home_folder }}/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
-  register: nginx_pub
-  changed_when: false
-
-- name: Build authorized keys
-  shell: |
-    echo "{{ nginx_pub.stdout }}" | tee -a {{ repo_service_home_folder }}/.ssh/authorized_keys
-  delegate_to: "{{ groups['pkg_repo'][0] }}"
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/repo_server/tasks/repo_key_distribute.yml b/playbooks/roles/repo_server/tasks/repo_key_distribute.yml
index 1c9aeafcc5..b164693a01 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/repo_server/tasks/repo_key_distribute.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/repo_server/tasks/repo_key_distribute.yml
@@ -13,21 +13,11 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-- name: Retrieve authorized keys
-  memcached:
-    name: "{{ item.name }}"
-    file_path: "{{ item.src }}"
-    state: "retrieve"
-    file_mode: "{{ item.file_mode }}"
-    dir_mode: "{{ item.dir_mode }}"
-    server: "{{ repo_memcached_servers }}"
-    encrypt_string: "{{ memcached_encryption_key }}"
-  with_items:
-    - { src: "{{ repo_service_home_folder }}/.ssh/authorized_keys", name: "authorized_keys", file_mode: "0640", dir_mode: "0750" }
-  register: memcache_keys
-  until: memcache_keys|success
-  retries: 5
-  delay: 2
+- name: Create authorized keys file from host vars
+  authorized_key:
+    user: "{{ repo_service_user_name }}"
+    key: "{{ hostvars[item]['repo_pubkey'] }}"
+  with_items: groups['pkg_repo']
   tags:
     - repo-key
     - repo-key-store
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/repo_server/tasks/repo_key_store.yml b/playbooks/roles/repo_server/tasks/repo_key_populate.yml
similarity index 56%
rename from playbooks/roles/repo_server/tasks/repo_key_store.yml
rename to playbooks/roles/repo_server/tasks/repo_key_populate.yml
index 75a5430a96..2036e3fe0b 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/repo_server/tasks/repo_key_store.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/repo_server/tasks/repo_key_populate.yml
@@ -13,19 +13,18 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-- name: Distribute authorized keys for cluster consumption
-  memcached:
-    name: "{{ item.name }}"
-    file_path: "{{ item.src }}"
-    state: "present"
-    server: "{{ repo_memcached_servers }}"
-    encrypt_string: "{{ memcached_encryption_key }}"
-  with_items:
-    - { src: "{{ repo_service_home_folder }}/.ssh/authorized_keys", name: "authorized_keys" }
-  register: memcache_keys
-  until: memcache_keys|success
-  retries: 5
-  delay: 2
+- name: Get public key contents and store as var
+  command: |
+    cat {{ repo_service_home_folder }}/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
+  register: repo_pub
+  changed_when: false
   tags:
     - repo-key
-    - repo-key-distribute
+    - repo-key-create
+
+- name: Register a fact for the repo user pub key
+  set_fact:
+     repo_pubkey: "{{ repo_pub.stdout }}"
+  tags:
+    - repo-key
+    - repo-key-create
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/repo_server/tasks/repo_post_install.yml b/playbooks/roles/repo_server/tasks/repo_post_install.yml
index 6467092139..327e87fa31 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/repo_server/tasks/repo_post_install.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/repo_server/tasks/repo_post_install.yml
@@ -21,7 +21,20 @@
   tags:
     - pkg-repo-group
 
-- name: Create the nova system user
+- name: Remove old key file(s) if found
+  file:
+    path: "{{ item }}"
+    state: "absent"
+  with_items:
+    - "{{ repo_service_home_folder }}/.ssh/authorized_keys"
+    - "{{ repo_service_home_folder }}/.ssh/id_rsa"
+    - "{{ repo_service_home_folder }}/.ssh/id_rsa.pub"
+  when: repo_recreate_keys | bool
+  tags:
+    - repo-key
+    - repo-key-create
+
+- name: Create the nginx system user
   user:
     name: "{{ repo_service_user_name }}"
     group: "{{ repo_service_group_name }}"
@@ -30,8 +43,11 @@
     system: "yes"
     createhome: "yes"
     home: "{{ repo_service_home_folder }}"
+    generate_ssh_key: "yes"
   tags:
     - pkg-repo-user
+    - repo-key
+    - repo-key-create
 
 - name: File and directory setup
   file: