diff --git a/awx/main/tasks.py b/awx/main/tasks.py
index 1a6e0f25c1..6753fb8577 100644
--- a/awx/main/tasks.py
+++ b/awx/main/tasks.py
@@ -1073,6 +1073,7 @@ class RunJob(BaseTask):
                 env['VMWARE_USER'] = cloud_cred.username
                 env['VMWARE_PASSWORD'] = decrypt_field(cloud_cred, 'password')
                 env['VMWARE_HOST'] = cloud_cred.host
+                env['VMWARE_VALIDATE_CERTS'] = str(settings.VMWARE_VALIDATE_CERTS)
             elif cloud_cred and cloud_cred.kind == 'openstack':
                 env['OS_CLIENT_CONFIG_FILE'] = cred_files.get(cloud_cred, '')
 
diff --git a/awx/settings/defaults.py b/awx/settings/defaults.py
index 514b6ac731..437b3d6db8 100644
--- a/awx/settings/defaults.py
+++ b/awx/settings/defaults.py
@@ -722,7 +722,7 @@ VMWARE_GROUP_FILTER = r'^.+$'
 VMWARE_HOST_FILTER = r'^.+$'
 VMWARE_EXCLUDE_EMPTY_GROUPS = True
 
-
+VMWARE_VALIDATE_CERTS = False
 # ---------------------------
 # -- Google Compute Engine --
 # ---------------------------