diff --git a/src/server/dcp_server/models.py b/src/server/dcp_server/models.py
index 1f37256..b7e41e4 100644
--- a/src/server/dcp_server/models.py
+++ b/src/server/dcp_server/models.py
@@ -270,6 +270,8 @@ def __init__(self, model_config, train_config, eval_config, model_name):
             self.classifier = CellClassifierShallowModel(self.model_config,
                                                          self.train_config,
                                                          self.eval_config)
+            # make sure include mask is set to False if we are using the random forest model 
+            self.include_mask = False 
             
     def update_configs(self, train_config, eval_config):
         self.train_config = train_config