diff --git a/ansible/roles/autoscaler-sidecar/defaults/main.yml b/ansible/roles/autoscaler-sidecar/defaults/main.yml
index 853895fa..a278e729 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/autoscaler-sidecar/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/autoscaler-sidecar/defaults/main.yml
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ autoscaler_status_url: "https://{{ autoscaler_server_host }}/sidecar/status"
 autoscaler_terminate_script: '/usr/local/bin/terminate_instance.sh'
 autoscaler_use_default_terminate_script: false
 autoscaler_user:
-  groups: ["adm"]
+  groups: ["adm", "jitsi"]
   homedir: "/home/{{ autoscaler_username }}"
   real_name: jitsi autoscaler sidecar user
   state: present
diff --git a/ansible/roles/bootstrap-repos/tasks/main.yml b/ansible/roles/bootstrap-repos/tasks/main.yml
index ebea8db6..90ddd15b 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/bootstrap-repos/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/bootstrap-repos/tasks/main.yml
@@ -1,8 +1,15 @@
 ---
+# stub for jitsi group
+- name: Stub group for jitsi in case it doesn't exist yet
+  ansible.builtin.group:
+    name: jitsi
+
 - name: Create jitsi base directory
   ansible.builtin.file:
-    mode: 0755
+    mode: 0775
     state: directory
+    owner: root
+    group: jitsi
     path: "{{ bootstrap_base_dir }}"
 
 - name: Create bootstrap repos directory