diff --git a/playbooks/manual/upgrade/mbs.yml b/playbooks/manual/upgrade/mbs.yml
index cabd64a55c..c61a6f2687 100644
--- a/playbooks/manual/upgrade/mbs.yml
+++ b/playbooks/manual/upgrade/mbs.yml
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@
    - /srv/web/infra/ansible/vars/{{ ansible_distribution }}.yml
   handlers:
   - import_tasks: "{{ handlers_path }}/restart_services.yml"
+  vars:
+    mbs_import_default_modules: False
 
   pre_tasks:
   - name: tell nagios to shush w.r.t. the frontend