diff --git a/lib/nova b/lib/nova
index 79ffb4dcdd..b2195c2e78 100644
--- a/lib/nova
+++ b/lib/nova
@@ -867,25 +867,26 @@ function start_nova_compute {
         local compute_cell_conf=$NOVA_CONF
     fi
 
+    cp $compute_cell_conf $NOVA_CPU_CONF
+
     if [[ "${CELLSV2_SETUP}" == "singleconductor" ]]; then
         # NOTE(danms): Grenade doesn't setup multi-cell rabbit, so
         # skip these bits and use the normal config.
-        NOVA_CPU_CONF=$compute_cell_conf
         echo "Skipping multi-cell conductor fleet setup"
     else
         # "${CELLSV2_SETUP}" is "superconductor"
-        cp $compute_cell_conf $NOVA_CPU_CONF
         # FIXME(danms): Should this be configurable?
         iniset $NOVA_CPU_CONF workarounds disable_group_policy_check_upcall True
         # Since the nova-compute service cannot reach nova-scheduler over
         # RPC, we also disable track_instance_changes.
         iniset $NOVA_CPU_CONF filter_scheduler track_instance_changes False
         iniset_rpc_backend nova $NOVA_CPU_CONF DEFAULT "nova_cell${NOVA_CPU_CELL}"
-        # Make sure we nuke any database config
-        inidelete $NOVA_CPU_CONF database connection
-        inidelete $NOVA_CPU_CONF api_database connection
     fi
 
+    # Make sure we nuke any database config
+    inidelete $NOVA_CPU_CONF database connection
+    inidelete $NOVA_CPU_CONF api_database connection
+
     if [[ "$VIRT_DRIVER" = 'libvirt' ]]; then
         # The group **$LIBVIRT_GROUP** is added to the current user in this script.
         # ``sg`` is used in run_process to execute nova-compute as a member of the