diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 4302de6cd0a86b941c05a3262733500c98f43a72..282854cf01a41edcc0c931398b591adc6e448c50 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ stages:
   image: quay.io/condaforge/linux-anvil-cos7-x86_64
   before_script:
     - curl --silent "${BOOTSTRAP}" --output "bootstrap.py"
-    - python3 bootstrap.py -vv channel base -t 5.3.0
+    - python3 bootstrap.py -vv channel base -t 5.3.0 -p 3.8
     - source ${CONDA_ROOT}/etc/profile.d/conda.sh
     - conda activate base
     - conda install memory_profiler -c conda-forge