diff --git a/basic-system/defaults/main.yml b/basic-system/defaults/main.yml
index 232a4d9ad9a06f0fce030593f367a3f04b587883..dc51f85261946f65b9d445ec3d01f3a17e7c81e7 100644
--- a/basic-system/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/basic-system/defaults/main.yml
@@ -6,3 +6,4 @@ hosts_additionals: []
 etckeeper: true
 rsyslog_needed: false
 hosts_precious: false
+journal_persitent_with_package: true
diff --git a/basic-system/tasks/logging.yml b/basic-system/tasks/logging.yml
index 2910dc865fb79626a9179e08b6b0309ad6193e0c..bddf2f34a4fb675c1c7f7bc00db119de91ed261c 100644
--- a/basic-system/tasks/logging.yml
+++ b/basic-system/tasks/logging.yml
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
     - syslogserver is not defined or syslogserver.split(":")[0] != ansible_fqdn
     - ansible_distribution_major_version|int >= 9
     - not rsyslog_needed
+    - journal_persitent_with_package
   register: syslog_provider
   tags:
     - syslog
@@ -29,7 +30,9 @@
     path: /var/log/journal
     state: directory
   when:
-    - ansible_distribution_major_version|int < 9
+    - (ansible_distribution_major_version|int < 9) or
+      (not journal_persitent_with_package)
+  register: syslog_provider
   notify:
     - configure journal directory
   tags: