diff --git a/gitlab/before_test.sh b/gitlab/before_test.sh
index f2b32a186075957d777ef3b60698e86d780e6776..7fa37f8e298c2bdac6b4e058138af50d333bf9b9 100755
--- a/gitlab/before_test.sh
+++ b/gitlab/before_test.sh
@@ -5,9 +5,16 @@ source $(dirname ${0})/functions.sh
 
 check_env DOCSERVER
 check_env CONDA_PREFIX
+check_env CI_PROJECT_NAME
 
 BOB_DOCUMENTATION_SERVER="${DOCSERVER}/software/bob/docs/latest/bob/%s/master/"
 PREFIX=`pwd`/${CONDA_PREFIX}
 
 run_cmd $(dirname ${0})/before_build.sh
+
+# zc.recipe.egg needs some special installation instructions
+if [ "${CI_PROJECT_NAME}" == "bob.buildout" ]; then
+  run_cmd ${use_pip} install --no-binary ":all:" zc.recipe.egg
+fi
+
 run_cmd ${PREFIX}/bin/pip install --use-wheel --no-index --pre dist/*.whl