diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 1a1d7338..9766f867 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ The **patch** part changes incrementally at each release.
 * rbenv: install Ruby 2.6.5 by default
 * squid: Remove wait time when we turn off squid
 * squid: compatibility wit Debian 10
+* tomcat: package version derived from Debian version if missing
 * varnish: remove custom ExecReload= script for Debian 10+
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/tomcat/defaults/main.yml b/tomcat/defaults/main.yml
index 07a29934..e555e2cd 100644
--- a/tomcat/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/tomcat/defaults/main.yml
@@ -1,3 +1,2 @@
 ---
 tomcat_instance_root: '/srv/tomcat'
-tomcat_version: 8
diff --git a/tomcat/tasks/packages.yml b/tomcat/tasks/packages.yml
index 4d17a87f..1d26f176 100644
--- a/tomcat/tasks/packages.yml
+++ b/tomcat/tasks/packages.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,26 @@
 ---
+
+- name: Set Tomcat version to 7 on Debian 8 if missing
+  set_fact:
+    tomcat_version: 7
+  when:
+    - ansible_distribution_release == "jessie"
+    - tomcat_version is not defined
+
+- name: Set Tomcat version to 8 on Debian 9 if missing
+  set_fact:
+    tomcat_version: 8
+  when:
+    - ansible_distribution_release == "stretch"
+    - tomcat_version is not defined
+
+- name: Set Tomcat version to 9 on Debian 10 if missing
+  set_fact:
+    tomcat_version: 9
+  when:
+    - ansible_distribution_release == "buster"
+    - tomcat_version is not defined
+
 - name: Install packages
   apt:
     name: