diff --git a/roles/mongodb/tasks/configure-mongodb-auth.yml b/roles/mongodb/tasks/configure-mongodb-auth.yml
index 9fdb5ea..79b0fe3 100644
--- a/roles/mongodb/tasks/configure-mongodb-auth.yml
+++ b/roles/mongodb/tasks/configure-mongodb-auth.yml
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
         mode: '0400'
 
 # Execute the template to apply changes to the mongo.conf for auth
-- name: Create MongoDB config file
+- name: Create MongoDB config file (auth)
   ansible.builtin.template:
     src: mongod.conf.j2
     dest: "{{ mongodb_conf_file }}"
@@ -72,7 +72,11 @@
     stage: "auth"
 
 - name: Start mongo
-  ansible.builtin.systemd:
+  ansible.builtin.service:
     name: mongod
     state: restarted
     enabled: true
+  register: mongod_service_result
+  until: mongod_service_result.status.ActiveState == "active"
+  retries: 15
+  delay: 20
diff --git a/roles/mongodb/tasks/configure-mongodb-replicaset.yml b/roles/mongodb/tasks/configure-mongodb-replicaset.yml
index ad07189..e4225e4 100644
--- a/roles/mongodb/tasks/configure-mongodb-replicaset.yml
+++ b/roles/mongodb/tasks/configure-mongodb-replicaset.yml
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
     msg: "{{ mongodb_state }}"
 
 # Execute the template to apply changes to the mongo.conf for replication
-- name: Create MongoDB config file
+- name: Create MongoDB config file (replicaset)
   ansible.builtin.template:
     src: mongod.conf.j2
     dest: "{{ mongodb_conf_file }}"
@@ -43,10 +43,14 @@
     stage: "replication"
 
 - name: Start mongo
-  ansible.builtin.systemd:
+  ansible.builtin.service:
     name: mongod
     state: restarted
     enabled: true
+  register: mongod_service_result
+  until: mongod_service_result.status.ActiveState == "active"
+  retries: 15
+  delay: 20
   when: not mongodb_state.replication_enabled
 
 - name: Set empty array of mongo servers
diff --git a/roles/mongodb/tasks/install-mongodb.yml b/roles/mongodb/tasks/install-mongodb.yml
index 151a154..837fee5 100644
--- a/roles/mongodb/tasks/install-mongodb.yml
+++ b/roles/mongodb/tasks/install-mongodb.yml
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@
 # users. That can not be done if all of these features are enabled. The
 # variable "stage" is used to provide this template context. When stage is
 # "initialize" the template will be forced to create a simple config.
-- name: Create MongoDB config file
+- name: Create MongoDB config file (initial)
   ansible.builtin.template:
     src: mongod.conf.j2
     dest: "{{ mongodb_conf_file }}"
@@ -97,10 +97,14 @@
   tags: initialize_mongo_config
 
 - name: Start mongo
-  ansible.builtin.systemd:
+  ansible.builtin.service:
     name: mongod
     state: restarted
     enabled: true
+  register: mongod_service_result
+  until: mongod_service_result.status.ActiveState == "active"
+  retries: 15
+  delay: 20
   tags: initialize_mongo_config
 
 - name: Add users to database
diff --git a/roles/mongodb/tasks/install-python.yml b/roles/mongodb/tasks/install-python.yml
index 4c5a72a..34a9e33 100644
--- a/roles/mongodb/tasks/install-python.yml
+++ b/roles/mongodb/tasks/install-python.yml
@@ -12,11 +12,18 @@
         python_executable: "{{ mongodb_python_executable }}"
         python_packages: "{{ mongodb_python_packages }}"
 
+    - name: Check if python virtual environment already exists
+      ansible.builtin.stat:
+        path: "{{ mongodb_python_venv }}"
+      register: mongodb_python_venv_check
+
     - name: Setup python virtual environment
       ansible.builtin.command:
         chdir: "{{ mongodb_python_venv_root }}"
         cmd: "{{ mongodb_python_executable }} -m venv {{ mongodb_python_venv_name }}"
-      changed_when: true
+      register: mongodb_python_venv_result
+      changed_when: mongodb_python_venv_result.changed
+      when: not mongodb_python_venv_check.stat.exists
 
     - name: Install Python dependencies
       ansible.builtin.include_role: