diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
index a06a427..a42fe98 100644
--- a/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -8,4 +8,26 @@ system_timezone: "Europe/Berlin"
 ssh_allow_password: no
 base_upgrade: yes
 
+base_packages:
+  - vim
+  - nano
+  - htop
+  - git
+  - tmux
+  - screen
+  - byobu
+  - ncdu
+  - moreutils
+  - apt-transport-https
+  - smartmontools
+  - zip
+  - unzip
+  - zsh
+  - rsync
+  - gnupg
+  - sudo
+  - curl
+  - python3-pip
+  - python3-setuptools
+  - python3-venv
 base_additional_packages: []
diff --git a/tasks/packages.yml b/tasks/packages.yml
index ce1ae86..f428f30 100644
--- a/tasks/packages.yml
+++ b/tasks/packages.yml
@@ -7,28 +7,7 @@
 
 - name: install a default set of packages
   package:
-    name:
-    - vim
-    - nano
-    - htop
-    - git
-    - tmux
-    - screen
-    - byobu
-    - ncdu
-    - moreutils
-    - apt-transport-https
-    - smartmontools
-    - zip
-    - unzip
-    - zsh
-    - rsync
-    - gnupg
-    - sudo
-    - curl
-    - python3-pip
-    - python3-setuptools
-    - python3-venv
+    name: "{{ base_packages }}"
     state: present
   tags: packages