diff --git a/inventory/group_vars/pdc-backend b/inventory/group_vars/pdc-backend
index 9c2bd0ad2c..0aeef5df0b 100644
--- a/inventory/group_vars/pdc-backend
+++ b/inventory/group_vars/pdc-backend
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ lvm_size: 20000
 mem_size: 2048
 num_cpus: 2
 
+host_group: pdc-backend
+
 # for systems that do not match the above - specify the same parameter in
 # the host_vars/$hostname file
 
diff --git a/inventory/group_vars/pdc-backend-stg b/inventory/group_vars/pdc-backend-stg
index 94825a1bf4..ee576eb033 100644
--- a/inventory/group_vars/pdc-backend-stg
+++ b/inventory/group_vars/pdc-backend-stg
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ lvm_size: 20000
 mem_size: 2048
 num_cpus: 1
 
+host_group: pdc-backend
+
 # for systems that do not match the above - specify the same parameter in
 # the host_vars/$hostname file