diff --git a/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/nightlies.yaml b/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/nightlies.yaml
index 94df69e774e4305e8ddf6dd215e18eceabc5efa6..ab606951245e3659adebcf988b8b036c4859144f 100644
--- a/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/nightlies.yaml
+++ b/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/nightlies.yaml
@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@ stages:
 .bootstrap:
   before_script:
     - "[ -r ~/.condarc ] && rm -f ~/.condarc"
-    - "[ -d ~/.conda ] && rm -rf ~/.conda"
+    # remove ~/.conda if it exists unless it's a mac machine
+    - "[ -d ~/.conda ] && [ ! -d /Applications ] && rm -rf ~/.conda"
     - curl --silent "${BOOTSTRAP}" --output "bootstrap.py"
     - python3 bootstrap.py -vv channel base
     - source ${CONDA_ROOT}/etc/profile.d/conda.sh
diff --git a/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/noarch.yaml b/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/noarch.yaml
index e073cad95b0db71c8a134f4bc82e46c20726ee5e..5978b1183031c006c7b70c4fd2d5c3ba9e31963a 100644
--- a/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/noarch.yaml
+++ b/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/noarch.yaml
@@ -22,7 +22,8 @@ stages:
 .bootstrap:
   before_script:
     - "[ -r ~/.condarc ] && rm -f ~/.condarc"
-    - "[ -d ~/.conda ] && rm -rf ~/.conda"
+    # remove ~/.conda if it exists unless it's a mac machine
+    - "[ -d ~/.conda ] && [ ! -d /Applications ] && rm -rf ~/.conda"
     - curl --silent "${BOOTSTRAP}" --output "bootstrap.py"
     - python3 bootstrap.py -vv channel bdt
     - source ${CONDA_ROOT}/etc/profile.d/conda.sh
diff --git a/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/single-package.yaml b/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/single-package.yaml
index 578349fb368169e97505c7b499fe639fcc12dec3..67b08f7e8286edc4621a63fb207ec95a047fa58d 100644
--- a/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/single-package.yaml
+++ b/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/single-package.yaml
@@ -22,7 +22,8 @@ stages:
 .bootstrap:
   before_script:
     - "[ -r ~/.condarc ] && rm -f ~/.condarc"
-    - "[ -d ~/.conda ] && rm -rf ~/.conda"
+    # remove ~/.conda if it exists unless it's a mac machine
+    - "[ -d ~/.conda ] && [ ! -d /Applications ] && rm -rf ~/.conda"
     - curl --silent "${BOOTSTRAP}" --output "bootstrap.py"
     - python3 bootstrap.py -vv channel bdt
     - source ${CONDA_ROOT}/etc/profile.d/conda.sh