diff --git a/R/tasks/r-installation.yml b/R/tasks/r-installation.yml
index f7fef96..1340978 100644
--- a/R/tasks/r-installation.yml
+++ b/R/tasks/r-installation.yml
@@ -48,9 +48,9 @@
   when: r_plugins_from_sources is defined
   tags: [ 'r_software', 'r_pkg', 'r_plugins', 'r_plugins_version' ]
 
-- name: Install R packages from the cran sources repo, latest available version. First try
+- name: Install R packages from the cran sources repo or from an alternative repository, latest available version. First try
   command: >
-    Rscript --slave --no-save --no-restore-history -e "if (! ('{{ item }}' %in% installed.packages()[,'Package'])) { install.packages(pkgs='{{ item }}', repos=c('{{ r_cran_mirror_site }}/')); print('Added'); } else { print('Already installed'); }"
+    Rscript --slave --no-save --no-restore-history -e "if (! ('{{ item.name }}' %in% installed.packages()[,'Package'])) { install.packages(pkgs='{{ item.name }}', repos=c('{{ item.repo | default ('https://cloud.r-project.org') }}/')); print('Added'); } else { print('Already installed'); }"
   register: install_plugins_result
   failed_when: "install_plugins_result.rc != 0 or 'had non-zero exit status' in install_plugins_result.stderr"
   changed_when: "'Added' in install_plugins_result.stdout"
@@ -86,9 +86,9 @@
   when: r_plugins_install_specific_source
   tags: [ 'r_software', 'r_pkg', 'r_plugins', 'r_plugins_version' ]
 
-- name: Install R packages from the cran sources repo, latest available version. Second try
+- name: Install R packages from the cran sources repo or from an alternative repository, latest available version. Second try
   command: >
-    Rscript --slave --no-save --no-restore-history -e "if (! ('{{ item }}' %in% installed.packages()[,'Package'])) { install.packages(pkgs='{{ item }}', repos=c('{{ r_cran_mirror_site }}/')); print('Added'); } else { print('Already installed'); }"
+    Rscript --slave --no-save --no-restore-history -e "if (! ('{{ item.name }}' %in% installed.packages()[,'Package'])) { install.packages(pkgs='{{ item.name }}', repos=c('{{ item.repo | default ('https://cloud.r-project.org') }}/')); print('Added'); } else { print('Already installed'); }"
   register: install_plugins_result
   failed_when: "install_plugins_result.rc != 0 or 'had non-zero exit status' in install_plugins_result.stderr"
   changed_when: "'Added' in install_plugins_result.stdout"