diff --git a/zuul/launcher/ansiblelaunchserver.py b/zuul/launcher/ansiblelaunchserver.py
index 87898b6..5bef6d3 100644
--- a/zuul/launcher/ansiblelaunchserver.py
+++ b/zuul/launcher/ansiblelaunchserver.py
@@ -919,7 +919,8 @@
                                            parameters)
         syncargs = dict(src=src,
                         dest=ftpcontent,
-                        copy_links='yes')
+                        copy_links='yes',
+                        mode='pull')
         if rsync_opts:
             syncargs['rsync_opts'] = rsync_opts
         task = dict(synchronize=syncargs,