diff --git a/modules/zuul/templates/zuul.conf.erb b/modules/zuul/templates/zuul.conf.erb
index 1e0bc5100d..51f8c4b944 100644
--- a/modules/zuul/templates/zuul.conf.erb
+++ b/modules/zuul/templates/zuul.conf.erb
@@ -13,3 +13,4 @@ layout_config=/etc/zuul/layout.yaml
 log_config=/etc/zuul/logging.conf
 state_dir=/var/lib/zuul
 git_dir=/var/lib/zuul/git
+push_change_refs=true