diff --git a/manifests/init.pp b/manifests/init.pp
index d988126..f5ae865 100644
--- a/manifests/init.pp
+++ b/manifests/init.pp
@@ -68,6 +68,8 @@
 #     A URL for the remote contact store application
 #   replicate_local:
 #     A boolean enabling local replication for apache acceleration
+#   replication_force_update:
+#     A boolean enabling replication to force updates to remote
 #   replicate_path:
 #     The path to the local git replica if replicate_local is enabled
 #   gitweb:
@@ -147,6 +149,7 @@ class gerrit(
   $melody_session = false,
   $replicate_local = false,
   $replicate_path = '/opt/lib/git',
+  $replication_force_update = true,
   $replication = [],
   $gitweb = true,
   $cgit = false,
diff --git a/templates/replication.config.erb b/templates/replication.config.erb
index f058100..12ab268 100644
--- a/templates/replication.config.erb
+++ b/templates/replication.config.erb
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 # This file is managed by puppet.
 # https://git.openstack.org/cgit/openstack-infra/system-config
 
+[gerrit]
+defaultForceUpdate = <%= @replication_force_update %>
+
 <% @replication.each do |replication| -%>
 [remote "<%= replication['name'] %>"]
 	url = <%= replication['url'] %>${name}.git