diff --git a/terraform/environments/apex/ec2.tf b/terraform/environments/apex/ec2.tf
index ba3a46d6db0..78bf40179d2 100644
--- a/terraform/environments/apex/ec2.tf
+++ b/terraform/environments/apex/ec2.tf
@@ -12,6 +12,11 @@
 # EOF
 # }
 
+resource "template_file" "web-userdata" {
+    filename = "run.sh"
+}
+
+
 resource "aws_instance" "apex_db_instance" {
   ami                         = local.application_data.accounts[local.environment].ec2amiid
   associate_public_ip_address = false
@@ -22,7 +27,8 @@ resource "aws_instance" "apex_db_instance" {
   monitoring                  = true
   subnet_id                   = data.aws_subnet.private_subnets_a.id
   iam_instance_profile        = aws_iam_instance_profile.ec2_instance_profile.id
-  user_data                   = "${file("run.sh")}"
+  user_data                   = "${template_file.web-userdata.rendered}"
+  
 
   root_block_device {
     delete_on_termination = false
@@ -47,6 +53,7 @@ data "local_file" "cloudwatch_agent" {
   filename = "${path.module}/cloudwatch_agent_config.json"
 }
 
+
 resource "aws_security_group" "ec2" {
   name        = local.application_name
   description = "APEX DB Server Security Group"