diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 3808aba783eb7f62b3eb6fe4f68753ad46bbbd12..40e0b67a07c0727483a2cd75ff4d51c1ecc1f073 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ unittests:
   tags: [ docker ]
   stage: test
   script:
-    - systemctl --no-pager status mysqld.service || echo "failed"
+    - /etc/init.d/mysql status || echo "failed"
     - cp config.defaults .config
     - echo "MYSQL_USER_PASSWORD=caosdb1234" >> .config
     - . .config || echo "failed"