diff --git a/roles/download/tasks/prep_download.yml b/roles/download/tasks/prep_download.yml
index 4c737e8e63e7f743dc332177a732065368967221..58e50849161e5c68ffd81383c74bccf854d79c2b 100644
--- a/roles/download/tasks/prep_download.yml
+++ b/roles/download/tasks/prep_download.yml
@@ -69,7 +69,6 @@
   file:
     path: "{{ local_release_dir }}/images"
     state: directory
-    recurse: yes
     mode: 0755
     owner: "{{ ansible_ssh_user | default(ansible_user_id) }}"
   when:
@@ -79,7 +78,6 @@
   file:
     path: "{{ download_cache_dir }}/images"
     state: directory
-    recurse: yes
     mode: 0755
   delegate_to: localhost
   connection: local