diff --git a/cabal-install/Distribution/Client/Sandbox.hs b/cabal-install/Distribution/Client/Sandbox.hs
index c711deb891c4ca63fe819b74781b1c5ec144877f..a95f0b120225fa288fa34476318067b94fd60af5 100644
--- a/cabal-install/Distribution/Client/Sandbox.hs
+++ b/cabal-install/Distribution/Client/Sandbox.hs
@@ -316,9 +316,7 @@ sandboxInstall verbosity _sandboxFlags configFlags configExFlags
 
 configPackageDB' :: ConfigFlags -> PackageDBStack
 configPackageDB' cfg =
-  interpretPackageDbFlags userInstall (configPackageDBs cfg)
-  where
-    userInstall = fromFlagOrDefault True (configUserInstall cfg)
+  interpretPackageDbFlags {- userInstall = -} False (configPackageDBs cfg)
 
 configCompilerAux' :: ConfigFlags
                       -> IO (Compiler, ProgramConfiguration)