diff --git a/nginx/tasks/packages.yml b/nginx/tasks/packages.yml
index fd9febcf..c1378fa0 100644
--- a/nginx/tasks/packages.yml
+++ b/nginx/tasks/packages.yml
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
   ansible.builtin.apt:
     name: "{{ nginx_package_name | default(nginx_default_package_name) }}"
     state: present
+    default_release: "{{ ansible_distribution_release }}-backports"
   tags:
     - nginx
     - packages
diff --git a/nginx/tasks/packages_backports.yml b/nginx/tasks/packages_backports.yml
index 88402bb9..2cc904a8 100644
--- a/nginx/tasks/packages_backports.yml
+++ b/nginx/tasks/packages_backports.yml
@@ -8,17 +8,6 @@
     - nginx
     - packages
 
-- name: Prefer Nginx packages from backports
-  ansible.builtin.template:
-    src: apt/nginx_preferences
-    dest: /etc/apt/preferences.d/999-nginx
-    force: true
-    mode: "0640"
-  register: nginx_apt_preferences
-  tags:
-    - nginx
-    - packages
-
 - name: APT cache is updated
   ansible.builtin.apt:
     update_cache: yes
diff --git a/nginx/templates/apt/nginx_preferences b/nginx/templates/apt/nginx_preferences
deleted file mode 100644
index 84bf65ff..00000000
--- a/nginx/templates/apt/nginx_preferences
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-Package: nginx nginx-* libnginx-* libssl*
-Pin: release a={{ ansible_distribution_release }}-backports
-Pin-Priority: 999