diff --git a/ansible/pre-deploy.yml b/ansible/pre-deploy.yml
index 2753dc6..23a82d2 100644
--- a/ansible/pre-deploy.yml
+++ b/ansible/pre-deploy.yml
@@ -52,6 +52,18 @@
       with_items:
         - src: config.json
           dest: /var/lib/alerta/config.json
+
+    # Note(decentral1se): can't use "template" module here
+    # because there are {{ }} jinja markers in this file!
+    - name: Copy over email templates
+      become: true
+      copy:
+        src: "{{ item.src }}"
+        dest: "{{ item.dest }}"
+        owner: "{{ docker_user_uid }}"
+        group: "{{ docker_user_gid }}"
+        mode: 0664
+      with_items:
         - src: email.tmpl
           dest: /var/lib/alerta/email.tmpl