diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index cc612eb9459b81e5be3501e20bafd92ea23d3dc3..b420e8412347f3f58d9b318231bbee3435eb43fa 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ variables:
   CC: gcc
   CXX: g++
   EXTRA_NINJA_ARGS: -v
-  EMPER_IO: "false"
 
 stages:
   - smoke-test