diff --git a/openstack-compute/variables.pkr.hcl b/openstack-compute/variables.pkr.hcl
index 20efd641406f81250b3cb1cc6514f5078ee2a503..d3681394fe7c66990a5b9f1507f38f7dbc74d025 100644
--- a/openstack-compute/variables.pkr.hcl
+++ b/openstack-compute/variables.pkr.hcl
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 variable "root_ssh_key" {
   type        = string
   description = "The root key to use for ssh"
+  default     = ""
 }
 
 variable "image_name" {