diff --git a/openstack_releases/pythonutils.py b/openstack_releases/pythonutils.py
index eea17d915d..d9207136bb 100644
--- a/openstack_releases/pythonutils.py
+++ b/openstack_releases/pythonutils.py
@@ -86,17 +86,18 @@ def build_sdist(workdir, repo):
         python = '.tox/venv/bin/python3'
     else:
         python = 'python3'
-    # Set some flags to turn off pbr functionality that we don't need
-    flags = {
-        'SKIP_GENERATE_RENO': '1',
-        'SKIP_GENERATE_AUTHORS': '1',
-        'SKIP_WRITE_GIT_CHANGELOG': '1',
-    }
+    # Set some flags to turn off pbr functionality that we don't need.
+    # This is currently causing some failures, so for now we are not passing
+    # along until we understand why.
+    # flags = {
+    #     'SKIP_GENERATE_RENO': '1',
+    #     'SKIP_GENERATE_AUTHORS': '1',
+    #     'SKIP_WRITE_GIT_CHANGELOG': '1',
+    # }
     cmd = [python, 'setup.py', 'sdist', 'bdist_wheel']
     processutils.check_call(
         cmd,
-        cwd=dest,
-        env=flags)
+        cwd=dest)
 
 
 def check_readme_format(workdir, repo):