diff --git a/tasks/main.yml b/tasks/main.yml
index c401c47..19d9633 100644
--- a/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/tasks/main.yml
@@ -44,6 +44,9 @@
 
 - meta: flush_handlers
 
+- name: Make sure elasticsearch is started
+  service: name={{instance_init_script | basename}} state=started enabled=yes
+
 - name: Wait for elasticsearch to startup
   wait_for: host={{es_api_host}} port={{es_api_port}} delay=5 connect_timeout=1
   when: es_restarted is defined and es_restarted.changed
diff --git a/templates/elasticsearch.repo b/templates/elasticsearch.repo
index fdf04fa..562f74e 100644
--- a/templates/elasticsearch.repo
+++ b/templates/elasticsearch.repo
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ baseurl=https://artifacts.elastic.co/packages/{{ es_major_version }}/yum
 gpgcheck=1
 gpgkey=https://artifacts.elastic.co/GPG-KEY-elasticsearch
 enabled=1
-{% if es_proxy_host is defined and es_proxy_port is defined %}
+{% if es_proxy_host is defined and es_proxy_host != '' and es_proxy_port is defined %}
 proxy=http://{{ es_proxy_host }}:{{es_proxy_port}}
 {% endif %}
-