diff --git a/roles/taskotron/resultsdb-backend/tasks/main.yml b/roles/taskotron/resultsdb-backend/tasks/main.yml
index 2fee36b979..4a0ed9d8d5 100644
--- a/roles/taskotron/resultsdb-backend/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/taskotron/resultsdb-backend/tasks/main.yml
@@ -27,4 +27,4 @@
     - restart httpd
 
 - name: initialize resultsdb database
-  command: resultsdb init_db && touch /etc/resultsdb/db-is-init creates=/etc/resultsdb-is-init
+  shell: PROD='true' resultsdb init_db && touch /etc/resultsdb/db-is-init creates=/etc/resultsdb-is-init