diff --git a/shinyproxy/tasks/main.yml b/shinyproxy/tasks/main.yml
index 574f13a4..28e5ddd5 100644
--- a/shinyproxy/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/shinyproxy/tasks/main.yml
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
       service: name=shinyproxy state=started enabled=yes
 
     - name: Pull the Docker images of shiny apps
-      docker_image: name={{ item.docker_image }} pull=yes state=present
+      docker_image: name={{ item.docker_image }} pull=yes state={{ item.image_state | default('present') }} force=yes
       with_items: '{{ shinyproxy_apps }}'
       when: shinyproxy_apps is defined
       tags: [ 'shinyproxy', 'shinyproxy_images' ]