diff --git a/roles/koji_reminder/tasks/main.yml b/roles/koji_reminder/tasks/main.yml
index e1e1a5453f..8089084f3d 100644
--- a/roles/koji_reminder/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/koji_reminder/tasks/main.yml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 - name: Ensure we can write to our own log file
   file: >
     dest=/var/log/koji-cert-reminder.log
-    state=present
+    state=touch
     mode=0644
     owner=fedmsg
     group=fedmsg