diff --git a/roles/postgresql_server/tasks/main.yml b/roles/postgresql_server/tasks/main.yml
index 4a8173a7b8..0289625dfe 100644
--- a/roles/postgresql_server/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/postgresql_server/tasks/main.yml
@@ -56,3 +56,10 @@
   tags:
   - cron
   - postgresql
+
+- name: Initialize postgres if necessary
+  command: /usr/bin/postgresql-setup initdb creates=/var/lib/pgsql/data
+  notify:
+  - restart postgresql
+  tags:
+  - postgresql