diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index af19e51..e57324c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ Set up the latest version of R in Ubuntu systems.
 * `bash` (will not be installed)
 
 #### Variables
+* `r_cran_repo`: [default: `true`]: Whether or not to install R from cran repositories instead of the distribution ones
 
 * `r_version_35`: [default: `false`, for Ubuntu >= `18.04` always `true`]: Whether or not to install R 3.5
 
diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
index 261bc89..03039f0 100644
--- a/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 ---
 r_version_35: "{{ ansible_distribution_version is version('18.04', '>=') }}"
 
+r_cran_repo: true
 r_cran_mirror: https://cran.rstudio.com/
 r_bioclite_url: https://bioconductor.org/biocLite.R
 
diff --git a/tasks/main.yml b/tasks/main.yml
index 2bd821a..f1c28f8 100644
--- a/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/tasks/main.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 # tasks file for r
 ---
 - include: repository.yml
+  when:
+    - r_cran_repo == true
   tags:
     - configuration
     - r