diff --git a/gitlab/before_build.sh b/gitlab/before_build.sh
index 9f090eccb288ab067390a6a969f21763328f08ed..4f2fed56ef42c497a519f2465276f4e7d6b67705 100755
--- a/gitlab/before_build.sh
+++ b/gitlab/before_build.sh
@@ -3,10 +3,12 @@
 
 source $(dirname ${0})/functions.sh
 
-WHEELS_REPOSITORY="${DOCSERVER}/software/bob/wheels/gitlab/"
-WHEELS_SERVER=`echo ${DOCSERVER} | sed 's;https\?://;;'`
+if [ -z "${WHEELS_REPOSITORY}" ]; then
+  WHEELS_REPOSITORY="${DOCSERVER}/software/bob/wheels/gitlab/"
+  WHEELS_SERVER=`echo ${DOCSERVER} | sed 's;https\?://;;'`
+  check_env WHEELS_SERVER
+fi
 check_env WHEELS_REPOSITORY
-check_env WHEELS_SERVER
 
 # Readies the virtualenv to use for installation
 if [ ! -d ${PREFIX} ]; then
@@ -41,7 +43,10 @@ else
 fi
 
 # Install this package's build dependencies
-PIPOPTS="--find-links ${WHEELS_REPOSITORY} --trusted-host ${WHEELS_SERVER}"
+PIPOPTS="--find-links ${WHEELS_REPOSITORY}"
+if [ ! -z "${WHEELS_SERVER}" ]; then
+ PIPOPTS="${PIPOPTS} --trusted-host ${WHEELS_SERVER}"
+fi
 PIPOPTS="${PIPOPTS} --pre --use-wheel --no-index"
 if [ -e requirements.txt ]; then
   run_cmd ${use_pip} install ${PIPOPTS} --requirement requirements.txt