diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index ae58d21a4632930acccb7ba6f0a456210012a5af..4684315334ba02b4d1523572992802ea0c5d22d2 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -20,9 +20,10 @@ build_conda:
 build_docker:
   stage: build
   before_script:
-    - export IMAGE=
-    - echo "IMAGE=${DOCKER_ORG}/${DOCKER_REPO}" >> build.env
-    - echo "TAG=${DOCKER_ORG}/${DOCKER_REPO}" >> build.env
+    - export IMAGE="${DOCKER_ORG}/${DOCKER_REPO}"
+    - echo TAG="${DOCKER_ORG}/${DOCKER_REPO}"
+    - echo "IMAGE=$IMAGE" >> build.env
+    - echo "TAG=$TAG" >> build.env
   script:
     - docker build -t ${IMAGE}:${TAG} .
   artifacts: