diff --git a/tasks/rdiff_backup_server.yml b/tasks/rdiff_backup_server.yml
index 760cf6f9dd..e7bc8b89ba 100644
--- a/tasks/rdiff_backup_server.yml
+++ b/tasks/rdiff_backup_server.yml
@@ -13,6 +13,6 @@
   - config
 
 - name: setup rdiff backup cron
-  cron: cron_file=$files/rdiff-backup/run-rdiff-backups.cron name=run-rdiff-backups
+  cron: cron_file=$files/rdiff-backup/run-rdiff-backups.cron name=run-rdiff-backups user=root
   tags:
   - config