diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 997fef5ec4e7c88aa8c42addc7e346feaece7efd..15a0a1fb24168ef6a16cc1e2fa9614a27e18e56f 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ variables:
   CC: gcc
   CXX: g++
   EXTRA_NINJA_ARGS: -v
+  EMPER_IO: "false"
 
 stages:
   - smoke-test