diff --git a/bob/devtools/release.py b/bob/devtools/release.py
index a26b04a6e5ffe2f84121159377dc2ff2703f79b4..9354149bab884d15d892af4885a589f51daf6582 100644
--- a/bob/devtools/release.py
+++ b/bob/devtools/release.py
@@ -70,7 +70,11 @@ def get_gitlab_instance():
           logger.debug('Did not find any of %s nor CI_JOB_TOKEN is defined. ' \
               'Asking for user token on the command line...', '|'.join(cfgs))
           token = input("Your %s (private) token: " % server)
-        gl = gitlab.Gitlab(server, private_token=token, api_version=4)
+          gl = gitlab.Gitlab(server, private_token=token, api_version=4)
+        else:
+          username = 'gitlab-ci-token'
+          gl = gitlab.Gitlab(server, email='gitlab-ci-token', password=token)
+          gl.auth()
 
     return gl