diff --git a/qa/qa/runtime/api/client.rb b/qa/qa/runtime/api/client.rb
index aff84c89f0e70ac336ee465ac9d9af6b3477ead8..d3327b493393f6563370c9f704e989e6458f8221 100644
--- a/qa/qa/runtime/api/client.rb
+++ b/qa/qa/runtime/api/client.rb
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ def initialize(address = :gitlab, personal_access_token: nil, is_new_session: tr
 
         def personal_access_token
           @personal_access_token ||= begin
-            # you can set the environment variable PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN
+            # you can set the environment variable GITLAB_QA_ACCESS_TOKEN
             # to use a specific access token rather than create one from the UI
             Runtime::Env.personal_access_token ||= create_personal_access_token
           end
diff --git a/qa/qa/runtime/env.rb b/qa/qa/runtime/env.rb
index dd0ddbdbd6b83fe7565e271020d1f48bd6bec8c9..03cae3c1fe625065f111d998fcf108dee517adb1 100644
--- a/qa/qa/runtime/env.rb
+++ b/qa/qa/runtime/env.rb
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ def signup_disabled?
 
       # specifies token that can be used for the api
       def personal_access_token
-        @personal_access_token ||= ENV['PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN']
+        @personal_access_token ||= ENV['GITLAB_QA_ACCESS_TOKEN']
       end
 
       def remote_grid
diff --git a/qa/qa/tools/delete_subgroups.rb b/qa/qa/tools/delete_subgroups.rb
index c5c48e77ade1fbc4fe8ff0d7b117fe48e3930995..3f752adbe6fbad00006241dbdbae2c7d89821123 100644
--- a/qa/qa/tools/delete_subgroups.rb
+++ b/qa/qa/tools/delete_subgroups.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 require_relative '../../qa'
 
 # This script deletes all subgroups of a group specified by ENV['GROUP_NAME_OR_PATH']
-# Required environment variables: PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN and GITLAB_ADDRESS
+# Required environment variables: GITLAB_QA_ACCESS_TOKEN and GITLAB_ADDRESS
 # Optional environment variable: GROUP_NAME_OR_PATH (defaults to 'gitlab-qa-sandbox-group')
 # Run `rake delete_subgroups`
 
@@ -14,9 +14,9 @@ class DeleteSubgroups
 
       def initialize
         raise ArgumentError, "Please provide GITLAB_ADDRESS" unless ENV['GITLAB_ADDRESS']
-        raise ArgumentError, "Please provide PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN" unless ENV['PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN']
+        raise ArgumentError, "Please provide GITLAB_QA_ACCESS_TOKEN" unless ENV['GITLAB_QA_ACCESS_TOKEN']
 
-        @api_client = Runtime::API::Client.new(ENV['GITLAB_ADDRESS'], personal_access_token: ENV['PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN'])
+        @api_client = Runtime::API::Client.new(ENV['GITLAB_ADDRESS'], personal_access_token: ENV['GITLAB_QA_ACCESS_TOKEN'])
       end
 
       def run
diff --git a/qa/qa/tools/generate_perf_testdata.rb b/qa/qa/tools/generate_perf_testdata.rb
index 4fda49c8e488c44ebf6ebb4d6afb065c5d90a684..49a1af8e9f01c488fbf501d7766e80ebc43dc017 100644
--- a/qa/qa/tools/generate_perf_testdata.rb
+++ b/qa/qa/tools/generate_perf_testdata.rb
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 require 'yaml'
 require_relative '../../qa'
 # This script generates testdata for Performance Testing.
-# Required environment variables: PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN and GITLAB_ADDRESS
+# Required environment variables: GITLAB_QA_ACCESS_TOKEN and GITLAB_ADDRESS
 # This job creates a urls.txt which contains a hash of all the URLs needed for Performance Testing
 # Run `rake generate_perf_testdata`
 
@@ -16,9 +16,9 @@ class GeneratePerfTestdata
 
       def initialize
         raise ArgumentError, "Please provide GITLAB_ADDRESS" unless ENV['GITLAB_ADDRESS']
-        raise ArgumentError, "Please provide PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN" unless ENV['PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN']
+        raise ArgumentError, "Please provide GITLAB_QA_ACCESS_TOKEN" unless ENV['GITLAB_QA_ACCESS_TOKEN']
 
-        @api_client = Runtime::API::Client.new(ENV['GITLAB_ADDRESS'], personal_access_token: ENV['PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN'])
+        @api_client = Runtime::API::Client.new(ENV['GITLAB_ADDRESS'], personal_access_token: ENV['GITLAB_QA_ACCESS_TOKEN'])
         @group_name = "gitlab-qa-perf-sandbox-#{SecureRandom.hex(8)}"
         @project_name = "my-test-project-#{SecureRandom.hex(8)}"
         @visibility = "public"
diff --git a/qa/spec/runtime/env_spec.rb b/qa/spec/runtime/env_spec.rb
index fc51f45c3a14796770ee6bf1ef482aed43a1cf8d..04085efe2cea9a7e01d41ba5588260d0d04d34ad 100644
--- a/qa/spec/runtime/env_spec.rb
+++ b/qa/spec/runtime/env_spec.rb
@@ -90,13 +90,13 @@
       described_class.instance_variable_set(:@personal_access_token, nil)
     end
 
-    context 'when PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN is set' do
+    context 'when GITLAB_QA_ACCESS_TOKEN is set' do
       before do
-        stub_env('PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN', 'a_token')
+        stub_env('GITLAB_QA_ACCESS_TOKEN', 'a_token_too')
       end
 
       it 'returns specified token from env' do
-        expect(described_class.personal_access_token).to eq 'a_token'
+        expect(described_class.personal_access_token).to eq 'a_token_too'
       end
     end