diff --git a/backend/cliapp/cliapp/cli.py b/backend/cliapp/cliapp/cli.py
index d20c0a8cf6436ca5f613c2c327cdfd1b3e10e986..4c8305c562e0168862a8be7b68957959cbb61e31 100644
--- a/backend/cliapp/cliapp/cli.py
+++ b/backend/cliapp/cliapp/cli.py
@@ -54,9 +54,7 @@ def create_app(slug, name, external_url = None):
     """
     current_app.logger.info(f"Creating app definition: {name} ({slug}")
 
-    obj = App()
-    obj.name = name
-    obj.slug = slug
+    obj = App(name=name, slug=slug)
 
     app_obj = App.query.filter_by(slug=slug).first()