diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 3600f7c57bcc189e7d1f6ceddfb6b73566c0c7ba..3313539fed9eacd362fed64fa1723ad9db2db531 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ stages:
 before_script:
   - apk update && apk add git
   - eval $(ssh-agent -s)
-  - echo "$SSH_PRIVATE_KEY_PROJECT" | tr -d '\r' | ssh-add -
+  - echo "$SSH_PRIVATE_KEY_PROJECT" | base64 -d | tr -d '\r' | ssh-add -
   - mkdir -p ~/.ssh/ && ssh-keyscan git.astron.nl > ~/.ssh/known_hosts
   - git checkout "$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME" # make sure the branch is checked out
   - git config user.email $GITLAB_USER_EMAIL