diff --git a/vm-setup/roles/common/defaults/main.yml b/vm-setup/roles/common/defaults/main.yml
index 2fcdb7c6b..b8fe07a4e 100644
--- a/vm-setup/roles/common/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/vm-setup/roles/common/defaults/main.yml
@@ -64,6 +64,8 @@ networks:
     dhcp_range_v6:
       - "{{ virsh_dhcp_v6_start }}"
       - "{{ virsh_dhcp_v6_end }}"
+    # libvirt defaults to minutes as the unit
+    lease_expiry: 60
     nat_port_range:
       - 1024
       - 65535
diff --git a/vm-setup/roles/libvirt/templates/network.xml.j2 b/vm-setup/roles/libvirt/templates/network.xml.j2
index 1191768bb..60d69b637 100644
--- a/vm-setup/roles/libvirt/templates/network.xml.j2
+++ b/vm-setup/roles/libvirt/templates/network.xml.j2
@@ -41,7 +41,9 @@
         {% set ironic_name = ironic_prefix + flavor + "_" + num|string %}
         {% set hostname_format = lookup('vars', flavor + '_hostname_format', default=flavor + '-%d') %}
         {% set hostname = hostname_format % num %}
-      <host mac='{{ node_mac_map.get(ironic_name).get(item.name)}}' name='{{hostname}}' ip='{{item.dhcp_range_v4[0]|ipmath(ns.index|int)}}'/>
+      <host mac='{{ node_mac_map.get(ironic_name).get(item.name)}}' name='{{hostname}}' ip='{{item.dhcp_range_v4[0]|ipmath(ns.index|int)}}'>
+        <lease expiry='{{ item.lease_expiry }}'/>
+      </host>
         {% set ns.index = ns.index + 1 %}
       {% endfor %}
     {% endfor %}
@@ -88,7 +90,9 @@
         {% set ironic_name = ironic_prefix + flavor + "_" + num|string %}
         {% set hostname_format = lookup('vars', flavor + '_hostname_format', default=flavor + '-%d') %}
         {% set hostname = hostname_format % num %}
-        <host id='00:03:00:01:{{ node_mac_map.get(ironic_name).get(item.name)}}' name='{{hostname}}' ip='{{item.dhcp_range_v6[0]|ipmath(ns.index|int)}}'/>
+        <host id='00:03:00:01:{{ node_mac_map.get(ironic_name).get(item.name)}}' name='{{hostname}}' ip='{{item.dhcp_range_v6[0]|ipmath(ns.index|int)}}'>
+          <lease expiry='{{ item.lease_expiry }}'/>
+        </host>
         {% set ns.index = ns.index + 1 %}
       {% endfor %}
     {% endfor %}