diff --git a/manifests/instance/app.pp b/manifests/instance/app.pp
index 1635199..04379c2 100644
--- a/manifests/instance/app.pp
+++ b/manifests/instance/app.pp
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@
   if ! defined(File[$install_dir]) {
     file { $install_dir:
       ensure  => directory,
-      recurse => true,
+      recurse => $wp_content_recurse,
     }
   } else {
     notice("Warning: cannot manage the permissions of ${install_dir}, as another resource (perhaps apache::vhost?) is managing it.")