diff --git a/roles/distgit/templates/gitolite.rc b/roles/distgit/templates/gitolite.rc
index 5f6d41a88c..e7ea639bb7 100644
--- a/roles/distgit/templates/gitolite.rc
+++ b/roles/distgit/templates/gitolite.rc
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ use RepoAliases qw( repo_aliases );
 %RC = (
 
     # ------------------------------------------------------------------
+    HTTP_ANON_USER => 'ANONYMOUS_',
 
     # default umask gives you perms of '0700'; see the rc file docs for
     # how/why you might change this