diff --git a/roles/aws_common/defaults/main.yml b/roles/aws_common/defaults/main.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..08808bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/aws_common/defaults/main.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+
+# See https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/monitoring/download-cloudwatch-agent-commandline.html
+aws_download_region: "{{ ansible_ec2_placement_region | default('us-west-2') }}"
+aws_cloudwatch_agent_rpm: "https://s3.{{ aws_download_region }}.amazonaws.com/amazoncloudwatch-agent-{{ aws_download_region }}/amazon_linux/amd64/latest/amazon-cloudwatch-agent.rpm"
diff --git a/roles/aws_common/molecule/default/tests/test_default.py b/roles/aws_common/molecule/default/tests/test_default.py
index 9f4b6c8..cf68ac4 100644
--- a/roles/aws_common/molecule/default/tests/test_default.py
+++ b/roles/aws_common/molecule/default/tests/test_default.py
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@ testinfra_hosts = testinfra.utils.ansible_runner.AnsibleRunner(
 @pytest.mark.parametrize('exe', [
     '/usr/bin/ec2-metadata',
     '/usr/bin/amazon-ssm-agent',
-    '/sbin/mount.efs'
+    '/sbin/mount.efs',
+    '/opt/aws/amazon-cloudwatch-agent/bin/amazon-cloudwatch-agent'
 ])
 def test_package_exes(host, exe):
     assert host.file(exe).exists
diff --git a/roles/aws_common/tasks/amazon.yml b/roles/aws_common/tasks/amazon.yml
index 4c2aebb..2f0ba7f 100644
--- a/roles/aws_common/tasks/amazon.yml
+++ b/roles/aws_common/tasks/amazon.yml
@@ -6,3 +6,4 @@
       - ec2-utils
       - amazon-ssm-agent
       - amazon-efs-utils
+      - "{{ aws_cloudwatch_agent_rpm }}"
diff --git a/roles/aws_common/tasks/main.yml b/roles/aws_common/tasks/main.yml
index 087b681..0f4b0cd 100644
--- a/roles/aws_common/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/aws_common/tasks/main.yml
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 ---
 
-- name: Install distro-specific prerequisites
-  include_tasks: "{{ ansible_distribution|lower }}.yml"
-
 - name: Fetch local EC2 metadata
   ec2_metadata_facts:
   tags:
     - notest
 
+- name: Install distro-specific prerequisites
+  include_tasks: "{{ ansible_distribution|lower }}.yml"
+
 - name: Use EC2 instance ID for cluster node ID
   set_fact:
     atl_cluster_node_id: "{{ ansible_ec2_instance_id }}"