diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 81f4a17963cd653b0d28e2c777c2fc69dafa0eee..1bc679f2eeb2b6166e983a81099d82f328a786bc 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ test:
     name: apache/airflow:2.1.3
     entrypoint: [""]
   variables:
-    - AIRFLOW__SECRETS__BACKEND_KWARGS: '{"url" : "https://zam10036.zam.kfa-juelich.de", "user" : "${DATACAT_TESTING_USERNAME}", "password" : "${DATACAT_TESTING_PASSWORD}"}'
+    AIRFLOW__SECRETS__BACKEND_KWARGS: '{"url" : "https://zam10036.zam.kfa-juelich.de", "user" : "${DATACAT_TESTING_USERNAME}", "password" : "${DATACAT_TESTING_PASSWORD}"}'
   before_script:
     - echo $AIRFLOW__SECRETS__BACKEND_KWARGS
     - airflow db init