diff --git a/tasks/transient_cloud.yml b/tasks/transient_cloud.yml
index e13bc73d8d..18fb9863a2 100644
--- a/tasks/transient_cloud.yml
+++ b/tasks/transient_cloud.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 - name: spin it up
-  local_action: ec2 keypair={{ keypair }} image={{ image }} type={{ instance_type }} wait=true group={{ security_group }} ec2_access_key={{ transient_access_key }} ec2_secret_key={{ transient_secret_key }} ec2_url={{ os_ec2_url }} user_data=I2Nsb3VkLWNvbmZpZwpkaXNhYmxlX3Jvb3Q6IDAK
+  local_action: ec2 keypair={{ keypair }} image={{ image }} type={{ instance_type }} wait=true group={{ security_group }} ec2_access_key={{ transient_access_key }} ec2_secret_key={{ transient_secret_key }} ec2_url={{ os_ec2_url }} user_data="#cloud-config\ndisable_root: 0"
   register: inst_res
 
 - name: add it to the special group