diff --git a/roles/build-releasenotes/tasks/main.yaml b/roles/build-releasenotes/tasks/main.yaml
index de7ff714..7b0e6e35 100644
--- a/roles/build-releasenotes/tasks/main.yaml
+++ b/roles/build-releasenotes/tasks/main.yaml
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+- name: Install gettext package
+  package:
+    name: gettext
+    state: present
+  become: yes
+
 # TODO(mordred) Put the translations logic into a sphinx plugin?
 - name: Check if translations exist for release notes
   stat: