diff --git a/provisioning/pre-tasks/00-name_by_path.yml b/provisioning/pre-tasks/00-name_by_path.yml
index d7ad056..d44b13a 100644
--- a/provisioning/pre-tasks/00-name_by_path.yml
+++ b/provisioning/pre-tasks/00-name_by_path.yml
@@ -7,9 +7,13 @@
   delegate_to: localhost
   become: false
 
+- name: remove underscores from folder name
+  set_fact:
+    proj_root_safe: "{{ proj_root.stdout|basename|replace('_','-') }}"
+
 # These values are NOT honored by Vagrant, but are still necessary for DrupalVM
 # See also provisioning/box/config
 - name: set vagrant hostname according to the project folder
   set_fact:
-    vagrant_hostname: "{{ proj_root.stdout|replace("_", "-")|basename }}.local"
-    vagrant_machine_name: "{{ proj_root.stdout|replace("_", "-")|basename }}-coop-vm"
+    vagrant_hostname: "{{ proj_root_safe }}.local"
+    vagrant_machine_name: "{{ proj_root_safe }}-coop-vm"