diff --git a/roles/debian/ansible/defaults/main.yml b/roles/debian/ansible/defaults/main.yml
index 2be4f5a9c..47707d7d0 100644
--- a/roles/debian/ansible/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/roles/debian/ansible/defaults/main.yml
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 ---
-ce_ansible_version: "<12.0"
 ce_ansible:
   # These are usually set in the _init role using _venv_path, _venv_command and _venv_install_username but can be overridden.
   #venv_path: "/home/{{ ce_provision.username }}/ansible"
   #venv_command: /usr/bin/python3.11 -m venv
   #venv_install_username: ansible # user to become when creating venv
+  ansible_version: "<12.0" # also check install.sh script in the repo root and set the version there accordingly.
   upgrade:
-    enabled: true # create systemd timer to auto-upgrade Ansible
-    command: "{{ _venv_path }}/bin/python3 -m pip install --upgrade ansible{{ ce_ansible_version }}" # if you set venv_path above then set it here too.
+    enabled: false # create systemd timer to auto-upgrade Ansible. Temporary disabled due to ansible 2.19 breaking changes.
+    command: "{{ _venv_path }}/bin/python3 -m pip install --upgrade ansible" # if you set venv_path above then set it here too
     on_calendar: "*-*-* 01:30:00" # see systemd.time documentation - https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/systemd.time.html#Calendar%20Events
     #timer_name: upgrade_ansible
   linters:
diff --git a/roles/debian/ansible/tasks/main.yml b/roles/debian/ansible/tasks/main.yml
index c0cf40389..cdf6d0862 100644
--- a/roles/debian/ansible/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/debian/ansible/tasks/main.yml
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@
       packages:
         - name: pip
           state: latest
-        - name: "ansible{{ ce_ansible_version }}"
+        - name: "ansible{{ ce_ansible.ansible_version }}"
         - name: python-debian
 
 - name: Install linters.
@@ -86,7 +86,8 @@
   block:
     - name: Build systemd timer variables string.
       ansible.builtin.set_fact:
-        _timer: "{'{{ ce_ansible.upgrade.timer_name | default(_ce_ansible_timer_name) }}': { timer_command: '{{ ce_ansible.upgrade.command | quote }}'', timer_OnCalendar: '{{ ce_ansible.upgrade.on_calendar }}' }}"
+        _timer: "{'{{ ce_ansible.upgrade.timer_name | default(_ce_ansible_timer_name) }}': { timer_command: '{{ ce_ansible.upgrade.command }}', timer_OnCalendar: '{{ ce_ansible.upgrade.on_calendar }}' }}"
+
     - name: Turn the timer string into a dictionary.
       ansible.builtin.set_fact:
         _timer: "{{ _timer.splitlines() | map('from_yaml') | list }}"