diff --git a/awx/api/views/__init__.py b/awx/api/views/__init__.py
index e99532cbca..47a55161b8 100644
--- a/awx/api/views/__init__.py
+++ b/awx/api/views/__init__.py
@@ -3369,6 +3369,7 @@ class JobTemplateCallback(GenericAPIView):
         if extra_vars is not None and job_template.ask_variables_on_launch:
             extra_vars_redacted, removed = extract_ansible_vars(extra_vars)
             kv['extra_vars'] = extra_vars_redacted
+        kv['_prevent_sharding'] = True  # will only run against 1 host, so no point
         with transaction.atomic():
             job = job_template.create_job(**kv)