diff --git a/bob/devtools/scripts/bdt.py b/bob/devtools/scripts/bdt.py
index cb65ed19d2dd58016476d0c221897dd788d6b797..2ac4e0c611c2aa6ef6f74461d8334f35ae182aab 100644
--- a/bob/devtools/scripts/bdt.py
+++ b/bob/devtools/scripts/bdt.py
@@ -67,3 +67,4 @@ 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)
diff --git a/bob/devtools/scripts/ci.py b/bob/devtools/scripts/ci.py
index b08b601a518a0eefc1081ba8cb502d52ca9f6b6c..da6cde518b9ce888d50d7a889a9f8a434c50f2a6 100644
--- a/bob/devtools/scripts/ci.py
+++ b/bob/devtools/scripts/ci.py
@@ -27,9 +27,7 @@ def ci():
   attempt to run these commands in your own installation.  Unexpected errors
   may occur.
   """
-  # ensure messages don't get garbled at the output on the CI logs
-  from ..bootstrap import set_environment
-  set_environment('PYTHONUNBUFFERED', '1', os.environ)
+  pass
 
 
 @ci.command(epilog='''