diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index aa87763ca..d94fcf9c1 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ stages:
 
 variables:
   GIT_SUBMODULE_STRATEGY: recursive
+  JAVA_HOME: /usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk-amd64
 
 workflow:
   # when to create a CI pipeline