diff --git a/.gitlab/ci/qa.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab/ci/qa.gitlab-ci.yml
index e665ed4d4ac209c63a1c27abfbcfa9c45ccff83f..8df829a2c84de09b37bfad2fa00f81b51cc1043a 100644
--- a/.gitlab/ci/qa.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/ci/qa.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ populate-qa-tests-var:
   image: ${GITLAB_DEPENDENCY_PROXY}ruby:2.7-alpine
   stage: prepare
   script:
-    - export QA_TESTS=$(scripts/determine-qa-tests --files $CHANGES_FILE --labels $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_LABELS)
+    - export QA_TESTS=$(scripts/determine-qa-tests --files $CHANGES_FILE --labels "$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_LABELS")
     - 'echo "QA_TESTS=$QA_TESTS" >> qa_tests_var.env'
     - 'echo "QA_TESTS: $QA_TESTS"'
   artifacts: