diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/ansible-test-rhel-dnf-optimization.yml b/changelogs/fragments/ansible-test-rhel-dnf-optimization.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..89f1bef30bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/ansible-test-rhel-dnf-optimization.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+minor_changes:
+  - ansible-test - Optimize DNF configuration for managed remote RHEL instances.
diff --git a/test/lib/ansible_test/_util/target/setup/bootstrap.sh b/test/lib/ansible_test/_util/target/setup/bootstrap.sh
index b93473721d8..03ae1ca5372 100644
--- a/test/lib/ansible_test/_util/target/setup/bootstrap.sh
+++ b/test/lib/ansible_test/_util/target/setup/bootstrap.sh
@@ -93,6 +93,21 @@ install_pip() {
     fi
 }
 
+optimize_dnf()
+{
+    if ! grep ansible-test /etc/dnf/dnf.conf > /dev/null; then
+        cat >> /etc/dnf/dnf.conf <<EOF
+# ansible-test
+minrate=1M
+timeout=15
+retries=5
+max_parallel_downloads=10
+zchunk=0
+deltarpm=0
+EOF
+    fi
+}
+
 bootstrap_remote_alpine()
 {
     py_pkg_prefix="py3"
@@ -275,6 +290,8 @@ bootstrap_remote_macos()
 
 bootstrap_remote_rhel_9()
 {
+    optimize_dnf
+
     if [ "${python_version}" = "3.9" ]; then
         py_pkg_prefix="python3"
     else
@@ -310,6 +327,8 @@ bootstrap_remote_rhel_9()
 
 bootstrap_remote_rhel_10()
 {
+    optimize_dnf
+
     py_pkg_prefix="python3"
 
     packages="