diff --git a/roles/mailman3/tasks/main.yml b/roles/mailman3/tasks/main.yml
index 25a41d47d5fad5a729af3a8e4281dff49c1fc22f..6bc4b2d7f423de1f5e1fc7e5829466792e59cbd0 100644
--- a/roles/mailman3/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/mailman3/tasks/main.yml
@@ -34,6 +34,13 @@
     - mailman-hyperkitty.cfg
   notify: Restart mailman3
 
+- name: Apply permissions to the mailman directory
+  file:
+    path: /var/lib/mailman3
+    state: directory
+    owner: list
+    group: list
+
 # You will need to setup postgres
 # sudo -u postgres createuser -P mailman3web
 # sudo -u postgres createdb -O mailman3web mailman3web