diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 89ed30711b73ff8ce160031f6adb7880110b66a8..d2daaf543404a6058538d9683d0b82d02da77794 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # Definition of global variables (all stages)
 variables:
+  PYTHONUNBUFFERED: "1"
   CONDA_ROOT: "${CI_PROJECT_DIR}/miniconda"
 
 
diff --git a/bob/devtools/build.py b/bob/devtools/build.py
index 17718c81f6ad2f2e1de43f034c144ad7f66cf1bd..11def1e4def56bbc698cc5919c27a88f94f337eb 100644
--- a/bob/devtools/build.py
+++ b/bob/devtools/build.py
@@ -615,7 +615,6 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
 
   bootstrap.setup_logger(logger, args.verbose)
 
-  bootstrap.set_environment('PYTHONUNBUFFERED', '1')
   bootstrap.set_environment('DOCSERVER', server)
   bootstrap.set_environment('LANG', 'en_US.UTF-8')
   bootstrap.set_environment('LC_ALL', os.environ['LANG'])
diff --git a/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/base-build.yaml b/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/base-build.yaml
index a9f616d96aaabe4c047f20f5d6925703c84dd532..3c6ed16557707ab9251c8531603e8f504db4356b 100644
--- a/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/base-build.yaml
+++ b/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/base-build.yaml
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 # Definition of global variables (all stages)
 variables:
+  PYTHONUNBUFFERED: "1"
   CONDA_ROOT: "${CI_PROJECT_DIR}/miniconda"
   BOOTSTRAP: "https://gitlab.idiap.ch/bob/bob.devtools/raw/master/bob/devtools/bootstrap.py"
 
diff --git a/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/nightlies.yaml b/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/nightlies.yaml
index 85fd4d49adb39aebde4c63b8ce0baaa6afe18f43..aee65c5d5f702a18afa729e38cb964fd15c02213 100644
--- a/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/nightlies.yaml
+++ b/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/nightlies.yaml
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 # Definition of global variables (all stages)
 variables:
+  PYTHONUNBUFFERED: "1"
   CONDA_ROOT: "${CI_PROJECT_DIR}/miniconda"
   BOOTSTRAP: "https://gitlab.idiap.ch/bob/bob.devtools/raw/master/bob/devtools/bootstrap.py"
 
diff --git a/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/single-package.yaml b/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/single-package.yaml
index d9e7a18d3da60a7202d319bc9a1eaeb7e5078d82..ff6f57f0ebfc3ef2f6fc75dc468a452873396005 100644
--- a/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/single-package.yaml
+++ b/bob/devtools/data/gitlab-ci/single-package.yaml
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 # Definition of global variables (all stages)
 variables:
+  PYTHONUNBUFFERED: "1"
   CONDA_ROOT: "${CI_PROJECT_DIR}/miniconda"
   BOOTSTRAP: "https://gitlab.idiap.ch/bob/bob.devtools/raw/master/bob/devtools/bootstrap.py"
 
diff --git a/bob/devtools/scripts/bdt.py b/bob/devtools/scripts/bdt.py
index 2ac4e0c611c2aa6ef6f74461d8334f35ae182aab..cb65ed19d2dd58016476d0c221897dd788d6b797 100644
--- a/bob/devtools/scripts/bdt.py
+++ b/bob/devtools/scripts/bdt.py
@@ -67,4 +67,3 @@ def main():
     # certificate setup: required for gitlab API interaction
     set_environment('SSL_CERT_FILE', CACERT, os.environ)
     set_environment('REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE', CACERT, os.environ)
-    set_environment('PYTHONUNBUFFERED', '1', os.environ)