diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 2450d1a..34d6b42 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ The current role maintainer_ is ypid_.
 
 
 debops.apache v0.1.0 - unreleased
-----------------------------------------
+---------------------------------
 
 Added
 ~~~~~
@@ -66,6 +66,9 @@ Fixed
   for :envvar:`apache__ocsp_stapling_cache`. Before, the ``socache_shmcb``
   module was implicitly loaded by the ``ssl`` module. [ypid_]
 
+- Ensure that the rewrite module is loaded when it is used by the configuration
+  generated by the role. [ypid_]
+
 - Fix ``item.https_enabled`` support for virtual hosts. This variable was
   ignored previously using the global default (``True``) directly. [ypid_]
 
diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
index 91de4c2..c0b573b 100644
--- a/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -333,6 +333,11 @@ apache__role_modules:
     enabled: '{{ True
                  if (apache__status_enabled|bool
                      and apache__status_allow_localhost)
+                 else omit }}'
+  'rewrite':
+    enabled: '{{ True
+                 if (apache__register_mod_rewrite_used is defined and
+                     apache__register_mod_rewrite_used.rc|d(1) == 0)
                  else omit }}'
 
                                                                    # ]]]
diff --git a/tasks/main.yml b/tasks/main.yml
index 38ee045..710f053 100644
--- a/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/tasks/main.yml
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@
     - '{{ apache__dependent_packages }}'
 
 # Manage Apache modules [[[1
-
 - name: Get list of available modules
   find:
     file_type: 'file'
@@ -25,19 +24,7 @@
     apache__tpl_available_modules: '{{ apache__register_mods_available.files|d({}) | map(attribute="path") | map("replace", apache__config_path + "/mods-available/", "") | map("regex_replace", "\.load$", "") | list }}'
   tags: [ 'role::apache:modules' ]
 
-- name: Enable/disable Apache modules
-  apache2_module:
-    name: '{{ item.key }}'
-    state: '{{ (item.value.enabled
-                if (item.value is mapping)
-                else item.value) | bool | ternary("present", "absent") }}'
-    force: '{{ item.value.force|d(False) | bool }}'
-  notify: [ 'Test apache and reload' ]
-  when: (item.key in apache__tpl_available_modules
-         and item.value.enabled|d(True) != omit
-         and apache__deploy_state == "present")
-  with_dict: '{{ apache__combined_modules }}'
-  tags: [ 'role::apache:modules' ]
+- include: apache_module_state.yml
 
 # Manage Apache configuration snippets [[[1
 - name: Divert conf-available configuration
@@ -137,3 +124,15 @@
   when: (item.type|d(apache__vhost_type) not in ["divert"])
   with_flattened: '{{ apache__combined_vhosts }}'
   tags: [ 'role::apache:vhosts' ]
+
+
+# Manage Apache modules, part 2 [[[1
+- name: Detect if the rewrite module has been used in the active configuration
+  shell: grep --ignore-case '^\s*RewriteEngine On' {{ apache__config_path | quote }}/sites-enabled/* {{ apache__config_path | quote }}/conf-enabled/*
+  register: apache__register_mod_rewrite_used
+  always_run: True
+  failed_when: apache__register_mod_rewrite_used.rc not in [ 0, 1 ]
+  changed_when: False
+  when: apache__register_mod_rewrite_used is undefined
+
+- include: apache_module_state.yml