diff --git a/ansible/tasks/internal/optimizations.yml b/ansible/tasks/internal/optimizations.yml
index a242b075a..6d287b409 100644
--- a/ansible/tasks/internal/optimizations.yml
+++ b/ansible/tasks/internal/optimizations.yml
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
     - postgresql
     - pgbouncer
     - fail2ban
-    - man-db
     - motd-news
 
 - name: Setup - install common dependencies
@@ -30,4 +29,13 @@
     masked: yes
   with_items:
     - lvm2-monitor
+
+- name: disable man-db
+  become: yes
+  file:
+    state: absent
+    path: "/etc/cron.daily/{{ item }}"
+  with_items:
     - man-db
+    - popularity-contest
+    - ubuntu-advantage-tools