diff --git a/roles/pagure/frontend/templates/gitolite.rc b/roles/pagure/frontend/templates/gitolite.rc
index 3746f96adc..389d04545e 100644
--- a/roles/pagure/frontend/templates/gitolite.rc
+++ b/roles/pagure/frontend/templates/gitolite.rc
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@
 %RC = (
 
     # ------------------------------------------------------------------
-
+{%- if environment == "staging" %}
+    HTTP_ANON_USER => 'ANONYMOUS_',
+{% endif %}
     # default umask gives you perms of '0700'; see the rc file docs for
     # how/why you might change this
     UMASK                           =>  0077,