diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index f1f6ef65c..0591e4c5e 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ default:
 variables:
   NIX_PATH: "nixpkgs=http://nixos.org/channels/nixos-23.11/nixexprs.tar.xz"
   AWS_SHARED_CREDENTIALS_FILE: "/etc/aws/credentials"
-  MAKE: "nix-shell --command make"
 
   TRANSFER_METER_FREQUENCY: "2s"
 
@@ -42,7 +41,7 @@ node dependencies:
         - .npm
         - node_modules
   script:
-    - "$MAKE node_modules"
+    - "nix-shell --command make node_modules"
   before_script: &nix-before
     - git config --global init.defaultBranch master
     - install -v -m 0700 -d ~/.ssh