diff --git a/playbooks/manual/staging-sync/db-sync.yml b/playbooks/manual/staging-sync/db-sync.yml
index 95340290b4..8aa97914d8 100644
--- a/playbooks/manual/staging-sync/db-sync.yml
+++ b/playbooks/manual/staging-sync/db-sync.yml
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@
 - name: bring staging services up
   hosts: "{{ server }}"
   user: root
-  when: server is defined
+  any_errors_fatal: false
   vars_files:
    - /srv/web/infra/ansible/vars/global.yml
    - "/srv/private/ansible/vars.yml"