diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 50b75657b755d50a3eedc68f450aa64815cda1fc..4f154b6a65b38858b0855afd7ac43f3df9532846 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,17 @@ include:
   - local: deploy/build_env/services-linux/gitlab-ci-build-docker.yml
   - local: deploy/build_env/services-windows/gitlab-ci-build-docker.yml
 
+skip-containers:
+  image:
+    name: $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE/asapo-services-linux-build-env:latest
+    entrypoint: [""]
+  stage: .pre
+  script:
+    - echo empty job to make sure the container exists
+  tags:
+    - kubernetes-executor
+  when: always
+
 build-services-linux-debug:
   image:
     name: $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE/asapo-services-linux-build-env:latest