diff --git a/roles/container-engine/cri-o/molecule/default/converge.yml b/roles/container-engine/cri-o/molecule/default/converge.yml
index 85361b439..8badf5f40 100644
--- a/roles/container-engine/cri-o/molecule/default/converge.yml
+++ b/roles/container-engine/cri-o/molecule/default/converge.yml
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@
 - name: Converge
   hosts: all
   become: true
-  vars:
-    container_manager: crio
   roles:
     - role: kubespray_defaults
     - role: container-engine/cri-o
diff --git a/roles/container-engine/cri-o/molecule/default/molecule.yml b/roles/container-engine/cri-o/molecule/default/molecule.yml
index e5bf20e5d..6d973b262 100644
--- a/roles/container-engine/cri-o/molecule/default/molecule.yml
+++ b/roles/container-engine/cri-o/molecule/default/molecule.yml
@@ -41,6 +41,10 @@ provisioner:
     defaults:
       callbacks_enabled: profile_tasks
       timeout: 120
+  inventory:
+    group_vars:
+      k8s_cluster:
+        container_manager: crio
   playbooks:
     create: ../../../../../tests/cloud_playbooks/create-kubevirt.yml
     prepare: ../../../molecule/prepare.yml
diff --git a/roles/container-engine/cri-o/molecule/default/verify.yml b/roles/container-engine/cri-o/molecule/default/verify.yml
index a40eb34d5..ca109f97d 100644
--- a/roles/container-engine/cri-o/molecule/default/verify.yml
+++ b/roles/container-engine/cri-o/molecule/default/verify.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 - name: Test CRI-O cri
   import_playbook: ../../../molecule/test_cri.yml
   vars:
-    container_manager: crio
     cri_socket: unix:///var/run/crio/crio.sock
     cri_name: cri-o
 - name: Test running a container with crun