diff --git a/ansible/inventory/group_vars/all/bifrost b/ansible/inventory/group_vars/all/bifrost
index e151d44fc..b2d916289 100644
--- a/ansible/inventory/group_vars/all/bifrost
+++ b/ansible/inventory/group_vars/all/bifrost
@@ -68,6 +68,10 @@ kolla_bifrost_deploy_image_filename: "deployment_image.qcow2"
 # Default is none.
 kolla_bifrost_deploy_image_rootfs:
 
+# Custom cloud-init user-data passed to deploy of the deployment image.
+# Default is an empty string.
+kolla_bifrost_deploy_image_user_data_content: ''
+
 ###############################################################################
 # Ironic configuration.
 
diff --git a/ansible/kolla-bifrost-hostvars.yml b/ansible/kolla-bifrost-hostvars.yml
index c74a4f88b..bb0ca2539 100644
--- a/ansible/kolla-bifrost-hostvars.yml
+++ b/ansible/kolla-bifrost-hostvars.yml
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
       ipv4_nameserver: "{{ resolv_nameservers }}"
       network_mtu: "{{ admin_oc_net_name | net_mtu or '1500' }}"
       vlan_id: "{{ '' if admin_oc_net_name == provision_oc_net_name else (admin_oc_net_name | net_vlan) }}"
+      user_data_content: "{{ kolla_bifrost_deploy_image_user_data_content }}"
   tasks:
     - block:
         - name: Ensure the Bifrost host variables directory exists
diff --git a/doc/source/configuration/reference/bifrost.rst b/doc/source/configuration/reference/bifrost.rst
index b362f8f99..7d72adaa0 100644
--- a/doc/source/configuration/reference/bifrost.rst
+++ b/doc/source/configuration/reference/bifrost.rst
@@ -195,6 +195,24 @@ The name of the root disk image to deploy can be configured via the
 Kayobe inventory. This can be used to provision different images across the
 overcloud.
 
+It can be necessary to deploy overcloud hosts with custom settings which can be
+configured during provision by the cloud-init user-data configured via the
+``kolla_bifrost_deploy_image_user_data_content`` option. The defaults is an
+empty string.
+
+.. code-block:: yaml
+   :caption: ``bifrost.yml``
+
+   kolla_bifrost_deploy_image_user_data_content: |
+     users:
+       name: myuser
+       sudo: ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL
+       shell: /bin/bash
+       passwd: <HASH_OF_MY_PASSWORD>
+       lock_passwd: false
+
+     timezone: "Europe/Paris"
+
 While only a single disk image can be built with Bifrost, starting from the
 Yoga 12.0.0 release, Kayobe supports building multiple disk images directly
 through Diskimage builder. Consult the :ref:`overcloud host disk image build
diff --git a/etc/kayobe/bifrost.yml b/etc/kayobe/bifrost.yml
index 992451701..18511afbf 100644
--- a/etc/kayobe/bifrost.yml
+++ b/etc/kayobe/bifrost.yml
@@ -69,6 +69,10 @@
 # Default is none.
 #kolla_bifrost_deploy_image_rootfs:
 
+# Custom cloud-init user-data passed to deploy of the deployment image.
+# Default is an empty string.
+#kolla_bifrost_deploy_image_user_data_content:
+
 ###############################################################################
 # Ironic configuration.
 
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/add-custom-user-data-content-d188c7c197b50acb.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/add-custom-user-data-content-d188c7c197b50acb.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..748e81c1d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/add-custom-user-data-content-d188c7c197b50acb.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+features:
+  - |
+    Adds a new ``kolla_bifrost_deploy_image_user_data_content`` variable used
+    to define the custom user_data content used by the cloud-init for overcloud
+    provision.