diff --git a/roles/download/tasks/main.yml b/roles/download/tasks/main.yml
index 66e635935..273e6817c 100644
--- a/roles/download/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/download/tasks/main.yml
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@
     download_delegate: "{% if download_localhost %}localhost{% else %}{{groups['kube-master'][0]}}{% endif %}"
 
 - name: Create dest directory for saved/loaded container images
-  file: path="{{local_release_dir}}/containers" state=directory recurse=yes mode=0755 owner={{ansible_ssh_user}}
+  file: path="{{local_release_dir}}/containers" state=directory recurse=yes mode=0755 owner={{ansible_ssh_user|default(ansible_user_id)}}
   when: "{{ download.enabled|bool and download.container|bool }}"
 
 # This is required for the download_localhost delegate to work smooth with CoreOS cluster nodes