diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/package-list-name-changes-e7a3fc551d742d23.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/package-list-name-changes-e7a3fc551d742d23.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..23d4ffb7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/package-list-name-changes-e7a3fc551d742d23.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+---
+upgrade:
+  - The variable ``lxc_apt_packages`` has been renamed to
+    ``lxc_hosts_distro_packages``.
diff --git a/tasks/lxc_install_apt.yml b/tasks/lxc_install_apt.yml
index 74f2abc5..286eec08 100644
--- a/tasks/lxc_install_apt.yml
+++ b/tasks/lxc_install_apt.yml
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
   until: install_packages|success
   retries: 5
   delay: 2
-  with_items: "{{ lxc_packages }}"
+  with_items: "{{ lxc_hosts_distro_packages }}"
   tags:
     - lxc-apt-packages
 
diff --git a/tasks/lxc_install_yum.yml b/tasks/lxc_install_yum.yml
index 1b59e63e..aa025ec5 100644
--- a/tasks/lxc_install_yum.yml
+++ b/tasks/lxc_install_yum.yml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
   until: install_packages|success
   retries: 5
   delay: 2
-  with_items: "{{ lxc_packages }}"
+  with_items: "{{ lxc_hosts_distro_packages }}"
   tags:
     - lxc-packages
 
diff --git a/vars/redhat-7.yml b/vars/redhat-7.yml
index 1960b467..20aefe51 100644
--- a/vars/redhat-7.yml
+++ b/vars/redhat-7.yml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 lxc_download_url: "https://linuxcontainers.org/downloads/lxc/lxc-2.0.4.tar.gz"
 
 # Required rpm packages.
-lxc_packages:
+lxc_hosts_distro_packages:
   - '@Development Tools'
   - automake
   - autoconf
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ lxc_cache_map:
       mv /etc/resolv.conf /etc/resolv.conf.org
     fi
     echo "nameserver {{ lxc_net_address }}" > /etc/resolv.conf
-    yum install -y {{ lxc_cache_packages | join(' ') }}
+    yum install -y {{ lxc_cache_distro_packages | join(' ') }}
     rm -f /usr/bin/python
     ln -s /usr/bin/python2.7 /usr/bin/python
     /usr/bin/wget https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-7.noarch.rpm -O /tmp/epel-release-latest-7.noarch.rpm
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ lxc_cache_map:
       rm -f /etc/resolv.conf
     fi
 
-lxc_cache_packages:
+lxc_cache_distro_packages:
   - ca-certificates
   - openssh-server
   - python2
diff --git a/vars/ubuntu-14.04.yml b/vars/ubuntu-14.04.yml
index 308618bc..38a36b38 100644
--- a/vars/ubuntu-14.04.yml
+++ b/vars/ubuntu-14.04.yml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 cache_timeout: 600
 
 # Required apt packages.
-lxc_packages:
+lxc_hosts_distro_packages:
   - apparmor
   - apparmor-utils
   - bridge-utils
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ lxc_cache_map:
     rm /root/repo.keys
     export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
     apt-get update
-    apt-get install -y {{ lxc_cache_install_debconf }} {{ lxc_cache_packages | join(' ') }}
+    apt-get install -y {{ lxc_cache_install_debconf }} {{ lxc_cache_distro_packages | join(' ') }}
     apt-get upgrade -y {{ lxc_cache_install_debconf }}
     rm -f /usr/bin/python
     ln -s /usr/bin/python2.7 /usr/bin/python
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ lxc_cache_map:
 # ref: http://serverfault.com/questions/259226/automatically-keep-current-version-of-config-files-when-apt-get-install
 lxc_cache_install_debconf: '-o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confdef" -o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confold" --force-yes'
 
-lxc_cache_packages:
+lxc_cache_distro_packages:
   - apt-transport-https
   - bridge-utils
   - bsdmainutils
diff --git a/vars/ubuntu-16.04.yml b/vars/ubuntu-16.04.yml
index 84e04e93..e984a084 100644
--- a/vars/ubuntu-16.04.yml
+++ b/vars/ubuntu-16.04.yml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 cache_timeout: 600
 
 # Required apt packages.
-lxc_packages:
+lxc_hosts_distro_packages:
   - apparmor
   - apparmor-utils
   - bridge-utils
@@ -41,9 +41,6 @@ lxc_cache_map:
   distro: ubuntu
   arch: "{{ lxc_architecture_mapping.get( ansible_architecture ) }}"
   release: xenial
-  cache_packages:
-    - apt-transport-https
-    - openssh-server
   copy_from_host:
     - /etc/apt/sources.list
     - /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/
@@ -57,7 +54,7 @@ lxc_cache_map:
     rm /root/repo.keys
     export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
     apt-get update
-    apt-get install -y {{ lxc_cache_install_debconf }} {{ lxc_cache_packages | join(' ') }}
+    apt-get install -y {{ lxc_cache_install_debconf }} {{ lxc_cache_distro_packages | join(' ') }}
     apt-get upgrade -y {{ lxc_cache_install_debconf }}
     rm -f /usr/bin/python
     ln -s /usr/bin/python2.7 /usr/bin/python
@@ -86,7 +83,7 @@ lxc_cache_map:
 # ref: http://serverfault.com/questions/259226/automatically-keep-current-version-of-config-files-when-apt-get-install
 lxc_cache_install_debconf: '-o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confdef" -o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confold" --force-yes'
 
-lxc_cache_packages:
+lxc_cache_distro_packages:
   - apt-transport-https
   - ca-certificates
   - iptables