diff --git a/roles/base/tasks/main.yml b/roles/base/tasks/main.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..737dd3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/base/tasks/main.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+- name: load distribution-specific values
+  include_vars: '{{ item }}'
+  with_first_found:
+  - '{{ ansible_distribution }}.yml'
+  - defaults.yml
+  tags:
+  - always
+
+- name: ensure selinux python bindings are installed
+  package:
+    name={{ selinux_python_libs|join(',') }}
+    state=present
diff --git a/roles/base/vars/defaults.yml b/roles/base/vars/defaults.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1faaf41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/base/vars/defaults.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+selinux_python_libs:
+- libselinux-python3
+- policycoreutils-python3