diff --git a/playbooks/vhost_reboot.yml b/playbooks/vhost_reboot.yml
index d9c11859f5..d02918efb7 100644
--- a/playbooks/vhost_reboot.yml
+++ b/playbooks/vhost_reboot.yml
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
     when: inventory_hostname.find('.stg.') != -1
 
   - name: halt the vm instances - to poweroff
-    command: /sbin/shutdown -h
+    command: /sbin/shutdown -h now
     ignore_errors: true
     # if one of them is down we don't care
 
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@
     ignore_errors: true
 
   - name: reboot the virthost
-    command: /sbin/shutdown -r
+    command: /sbin/shutdown -r now
 
   - name: wait for virthost to come back - up to 15 minutes
     local_action: wait_for host={{ target }} port=22 delay=120 timeout=900