diff --git a/docker/startup_scripts/start.sh b/docker/startup_scripts/start.sh
index a6cb1bd4f..2bacd2c4a 100755
--- a/docker/startup_scripts/start.sh
+++ b/docker/startup_scripts/start.sh
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ main() {
   # deployed.  Runs as a background job so pod startup is not delayed.
   # Must be after migrate_db so the base_file_metadata table exists.
   # Once all instances have been fully backfilled this line can be removed.
-  python3 manage.py backfill_file_metadata --batch-size=200 --rate-limit=20 &
+  python3 manage.py backfill_file_metadata --rate-limit=20 &
   configure_solr || true
   configure_sapn
   create_admin