diff --git a/roles/pem_deploy/tasks/04_define_storage.yml b/roles/pem_deploy/tasks/04_define_storage.yml
index 149ee95..f4dde45 100644
--- a/roles/pem_deploy/tasks/04_define_storage.yml
+++ b/roles/pem_deploy/tasks/04_define_storage.yml
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@
   ansible.builtin.set_fact:
     my_storage_class: "ibm-fyre1"
   when:
-    - my_storage_class is not defined
+    - my_storage_class == ''
     - "'rook-cephfs' in my_storage_list"
 
 - name: Assert that storage class has been defined
diff --git a/roles/pem_deploy_db2/tasks/03_define_storage.yml b/roles/pem_deploy_db2/tasks/03_define_storage.yml
index f019244..e049895 100644
--- a/roles/pem_deploy_db2/tasks/03_define_storage.yml
+++ b/roles/pem_deploy_db2/tasks/03_define_storage.yml
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@
   ansible.builtin.set_fact:
     my_storage_class: "ibm-fyre1"
   when:
-    - my_storage_class is not defined
+    - my_storage_class == ''
     - "'rook-cephfs' in my_storage_list"
 
 - name: Assert that storage class has been defined