diff --git a/esmvaltool/cmorizers/data/cmorizer.py b/esmvaltool/cmorizers/data/cmorizer.py
index 3d77d5e51b..6c6395ff6b 100644
--- a/esmvaltool/cmorizers/data/cmorizer.py
+++ b/esmvaltool/cmorizers/data/cmorizer.py
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ def format(
             )
         logger.info("Processing datasets %s", datasets)
 
-        with get_distributed_client():
+        with get_distributed_client(session=self.config):
             # loop through tier/datasets to be cmorized
             failed_datasets = [
                 dataset