diff --git a/roles/postgresql_server/tasks/main.yml b/roles/postgresql_server/tasks/main.yml
index 43f3230fb3..2da3fd5dea 100644
--- a/roles/postgresql_server/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/postgresql_server/tasks/main.yml
@@ -22,7 +22,8 @@
   - postgresql
 
 - name: Initialize postgres if necessary
-  command: /usr/bin/postgresql-setup initdb creates=/var/lib/pgsql/data
+  command: /usr/bin/postgresql-setup initdb
+  when: not os.path.exists("/var/lib/pgsql/data")
   notify:
   - restart postgresql
   tags: