diff --git a/manifests/server/initdb.pp b/manifests/server/initdb.pp
index c7234c667f..ba32cd35a7 100644
--- a/manifests/server/initdb.pp
+++ b/manifests/server/initdb.pp
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
         user      => $user,
         group     => $group,
         logoutput => on_failure,
-        before    => File[$datadir],
+        require   => File[$datadir],
       }
     }
   } else {