diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index e1a8562bf006905b0da17df1a73bf7efd705736e..680c38b7e965dca5893cc887286881bc93fe1520 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ test:
     - docker logs docker_sqldb_1 &> ../mariadb_log.txt
 
     # shut down the CaosDB server
-    - CAOSDB_TAG=$CAOSDB_TAG docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml down
+    - CAOSDB_TAG=$CAOSDB_TAG docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml down || true
 
     # collect results
     - rc=`cat result`