diff --git a/roles/duplicity/defaults/main.yml b/roles/duplicity/defaults/main.yml
index 12cb44838..a274e97a3 100644
--- a/roles/duplicity/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/roles/duplicity/defaults/main.yml
@@ -23,4 +23,4 @@ duplicity:
   install_dir: "/opt/duplicity"
   mail_recipient: "foo@bar.com"
   retention_period: "12M"
-  schedule: "0 0 * * *"
+  schedule: "0 0 * * *" # make this an empty string to not provide a cron job at all
diff --git a/roles/duplicity/tasks/main.yml b/roles/duplicity/tasks/main.yml
index b1d095b18..db8f0c369 100644
--- a/roles/duplicity/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/duplicity/tasks/main.yml
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@
     owner: root
     group: root
     mode: 0644
+  when:
+    - duplicity.schedule | length > 0
 
 - name: Trigger overrides
   ansible.builtin.include_role: