diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 613c119390ac2eebe7231d03574ee6ab2ff2fde0..bef179f1923a0e350744406689cd3c9c20b64c07 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 
 variables:
   TRIGGERED_BY_REPO: CPPINTTEST
-  TRIGGERED_BY_REF: '${TRIGGERED_BY_REF:-$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME}'
+  TRIGGERED_BY_REF: 'echo "${TRIGGERED_BY_REF:-$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME}"'
   TRIGGERED_BY_HASH: ${TRIGGERED_BY_HASH:-$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA}
 
 stages: