diff --git a/gstlal-inspiral/bin/gstlal_inspiral b/gstlal-inspiral/bin/gstlal_inspiral
index 38e00b3b5d53cfb2910817d92cee0e0a259f59a5..516c9f59778cdbbbfd4d20c5cf11d21f2682c50c 100755
--- a/gstlal-inspiral/bin/gstlal_inspiral
+++ b/gstlal-inspiral/bin/gstlal_inspiral
@@ -831,6 +831,7 @@ for output_file_number, (svd_bank_url_dict, output_url, ranking_stat_output_url,
 		sngls_snr_threshold = options.singles_threshold,
 		tag = options.job_tag,
 		kafka_server = options.output_kafka_server,
+		cluster = options.data_source in ("lvshm", "framexmit"),# we cluster when running online within thinca.
 		verbose = options.verbose
 	)
 	if options.verbose: