diff --git a/geant/gap_ansible/roles/base_config/defaults/main.yml b/geant/gap_ansible/roles/base_config/defaults/main.yml
index 86405e60cc0d8ac85698bf4338e83378f8f77e83..1f84ad8880c3a656bce1c0031c0cbb44c251c8aa 100644
--- a/geant/gap_ansible/roles/base_config/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/geant/gap_ansible/roles/base_config/defaults/main.yml
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 ---
 # defaults file for base_config
+ansible_net_has_2RE: false  # safe to set because when ansible gets this var from the real Juniper box, it will be overwritten.