diff --git a/playbooks/roles/common/tasks/main.yml b/playbooks/roles/common/tasks/main.yml
index e2164bb7f2b..4483ba1f1b4 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/common/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/common/tasks/main.yml
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 # GitHub requires version 1.7.10 or later
 # https://help.github.com/articles/https-cloning-errors
 - name: Add git apt repository
-  apt_repository: repo="{{ common_git_ppa }}" validate_certs=no
+  apt_repository_1.8: repo="{{ common_git_ppa }}" validate_certs=no
 
 - name: Install role-independent useful system packages
   # do this before log dir setup; rsyslog package guarantees syslog user present
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/datadog/tasks/main.yml b/playbooks/roles/datadog/tasks/main.yml
index f4b1f8d2d9d..85d2540f04d 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/datadog/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/datadog/tasks/main.yml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
     - datadog
 
 - name: install apt repository
-  apt_repository: repo='deb http://apt.datadoghq.com/ unstable main' update_cache=yes validate_certs=no
+  apt_repository_1.8: repo='deb http://apt.datadoghq.com/ unstable main' update_cache=yes validate_certs=no
   tags:
     - datadog
 
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/edxapp/tasks/main.yml b/playbooks/roles/edxapp/tasks/main.yml
index c5e69cca46d..8f0b1b7442e 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/edxapp/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/edxapp/tasks/main.yml
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@
 
 # adding chris-lea nodejs repo
 - name: add ppas for current versions of nodejs
-  apt_repository: repo="{{ edxapp_chrislea_ppa }}" validate_certs=no
+  apt_repository_1.8: repo="{{ edxapp_chrislea_ppa }}" validate_certs=no
 
 - name: install system packages on which LMS and CMS rely
   apt: pkg={{','.join(edxapp_debian_pkgs)}} state=present update_cache=yes
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/jenkins_admin/tasks/main.yml b/playbooks/roles/jenkins_admin/tasks/main.yml
index d9b3b385abe..85a9a7d4f58 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/jenkins_admin/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/jenkins_admin/tasks/main.yml
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
   when: JENKINS_ADMIN_S3_PROFILE.secret_key is not defined
 
 - name: add admin specific apt repositories
-  apt_repository: repo="{{ item }}" state=present update_cache=yes validate_certs=no
+  apt_repository_1.8: repo="{{ item }}" state=present update_cache=yes validate_certs=no
   with_items: jenkins_admin_debian_repos
 
 - name: create the scripts directory
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@
 
 # adding chris-lea nodejs repo
 - name: add ppas for current versions of nodejs
-  apt_repository: repo="{{ jenkins_chrislea_ppa }}"
+  apt_repository_1.8: repo="{{ jenkins_chrislea_ppa }}"
 
 - name: install system packages for edxapp virtualenvs
   apt: pkg={{','.join(jenkins_admin_debian_pkgs)}} state=present update_cache=yes
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/jenkins_worker/tasks/system.yml b/playbooks/roles/jenkins_worker/tasks/system.yml
index 4bedf1fa375..b3d87819af6 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/jenkins_worker/tasks/system.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/jenkins_worker/tasks/system.yml
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 
 # adding chris-lea nodejs repo
 - name: add ppas for current versions of nodejs
-  apt_repository: repo="{{ jenkins_chrislea_ppa }}" validate_certs=no
+  apt_repository_1.8: repo="{{ jenkins_chrislea_ppa }}" validate_certs=no
 
 - name: Install system packages
   apt: pkg={{','.join(jenkins_debian_pkgs)}}
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/mongo/tasks/main.yml b/playbooks/roles/mongo/tasks/main.yml
index a1cd16670b5..fb562dd7154 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/mongo/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/mongo/tasks/main.yml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
     state=present
 
 - name: add the mongodb repo to the sources list
-  apt_repository: >
+  apt_repository_1.8: >
     repo='{{ MONGODB_REPO }}'
     state=present
     validate_certs=no
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/newrelic/tasks/main.yml b/playbooks/roles/newrelic/tasks/main.yml
index e2402d6e454..f7dc76a8e96 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/newrelic/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/newrelic/tasks/main.yml
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
   when: ansible_distribution == 'Amazon'
 
 - name: install apt repository
-  apt_repository: repo="{{ NEWRELIC_DEBIAN_REPO }}" update_cache=yes validate_certs=no
+  apt_repository_1.8: repo="{{ NEWRELIC_DEBIAN_REPO }}" update_cache=yes validate_certs=no
   when: ansible_distribution == 'Ubuntu'
 
 - name: install newrelic agent (apt)
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/rabbitmq/tasks/main.yml b/playbooks/roles/rabbitmq/tasks/main.yml
index 8b1da611738..f10b0b7d747 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/rabbitmq/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/rabbitmq/tasks/main.yml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
   apt: pkg={{",".join(rabbitmq_debian_pkgs)}} state=present
 
 - name: add rabbit repository
-  apt_repository: repo="{{rabbitmq_repository}}" state=present update_cache=yes validate_certs=no
+  apt_repository_1.8: repo="{{rabbitmq_repository}}" state=present update_cache=yes validate_certs=no
 
 - name: fetch the rabbitmq server deb
   get_url: >
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/redis/tasks/main.yml b/playbooks/roles/redis/tasks/main.yml
index f72dce12d17..25df28f9cf3 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/redis/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/redis/tasks/main.yml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 #
 
 - name: add the redis ppa
-  apt_repository: repo="{{ redis_ppa }}" validate_certs=no
+  apt_repository_1.8: repo="{{ redis_ppa }}" validate_certs=no
 
 - name: install redis system packages
   apt: pkg={{ item }} install_recommends=yes state=present