diff --git a/gitlab/update_feedstock.py b/gitlab/update_feedstock.py
index ad70820784551a3d79b6d5e4391471dd6418951b..ed853c54356fa4076ead7a200da6cce916e1e56e 100755
--- a/gitlab/update_feedstock.py
+++ b/gitlab/update_feedstock.py
@@ -181,13 +181,12 @@ def main(package, direct_push=False):
       f.write(doc)
 
     run_commands(['git', '--no-pager', 'diff'],
+                 ['git', 'config', 'user.email', os.environ.get('GITLAB_USER_EMAIL')],
+                 ['git', 'config', 'user.name', os.environ.get('GITLAB_USER_ID')],
                  ['git', 'add', '-A'])
     try:
       run_commands(['git', 'commit', '-am',
-                    'Update to version {}'.format(stable_version),
-                    '--author', '{} <{}>'.format(
-                        os.environ.get('GITLAB_USER_ID'),
-                        os.environ.get('GITLAB_USER_EMAIL'))])
+                    'Update to version {}'.format(stable_version)])
     except ValueError:
       print('Feedstock is already uptodate, skipping.')
       return