diff --git a/roles/ci_gen_kustomize_values/molecule/default/prepare.yml b/roles/ci_gen_kustomize_values/molecule/default/prepare.yml
index b11327d265..1ddac734de 100644
--- a/roles/ci_gen_kustomize_values/molecule/default/prepare.yml
+++ b/roles/ci_gen_kustomize_values/molecule/default/prepare.yml
@@ -18,6 +18,11 @@
 - name: Prepare
   hosts: all
   vars:
+    # the reason to have this new var definition for cifmw_installyamls_repos is
+    # that this var is being used in import_playbook which is not a task under
+    # the scope of any group. Thus, it won't use vars defined in group_vars.
+    # Ref: https://stackoverflow.com/a/78506392
+    _cifmw_installyamls_repos: "{{ cifmw_installyamls_repos }}"
     cifmw_ci_gen_kustomize_values_src_dir: >-
       {{
         (lookup('env', 'HOME'),
@@ -46,7 +51,4 @@
         type: "ecdsa"
 
 - name: Download tools for later testing and validations
-  ansible.builtin.import_playbook: >-
-    {{ (lookup('env', 'HOME'),
-        'src/github.com/openstack-k8s-operators',
-        'install_yamls/devsetup/download_tools.yaml') | path_join }}
+  ansible.builtin.import_playbook: "{{ _cifmw_installyamls_repos }}/devsetup/download_tools.yaml"