diff --git a/ansible/roles/tomcat/tasks/main.yml b/ansible/roles/tomcat/tasks/main.yml
index 984a05b5..2aa8f12c 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/tomcat/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/tomcat/tasks/main.yml
@@ -27,8 +27,9 @@
     mode: "{{ item.mode }}"
     owner: "{{ tomcat_owner }}"
     group: "{{ tomcat_group }}"
-    # If the files already exist, don't clobber them
-    force: false
+    # Preserve existing user-managed files, except setenv.sh: its JVM
+    # hostname must be refreshed when the inventory/configuration changes.
+    force: "{{ item.force | default(false) }}"
   with_items:
     - src: tomcat/conf
       name: context.xml
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@
       name: setenv.sh
       mode: u=rwx,g=rx,o=rx
       dest: "{{ catalina_base }}/bin"
+      force: true
     - src: tomcat/conf
       name: web.xml
       mode: u=rw,g=r,o=r