diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 81e1daf6e0f34a8a153f0b0ae13ed3a8b0b4906c..d83de57c3325fa6d64f609f2ba41b42920e11386 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ services:
 build-my-base:
   stage: build
   variables:
-    STAGE_NAME="my-base"
+    STAGE_NAME: "my-base"
   script:
     - docker login -u "$CI_REGISTRY_USER" -p "$CI_REGISTRY_PASSWORD" $CI_REGISTRY
     # pull the latest build
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ build-my-r-base:
   stage: build
   needs: [build-my-base]
   variables:
-    STAGE_NAME="my-r-base"
+    STAGE_NAME: "my-r-base"
   script:
     - docker login -u "$CI_REGISTRY_USER" -p "$CI_REGISTRY_PASSWORD" $CI_REGISTRY
     # pull the previous stage
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ build-my-r-shiny:
   stage: build
   needs: ["build-my-r-base"]
   variables:
-    STAGE_NAME="my-r-shiny"
+    STAGE_NAME: "my-r-shiny"
   script:
     - docker login -u "$CI_REGISTRY_USER" -p "$CI_REGISTRY_PASSWORD" $CI_REGISTRY
     # pull the previous stage