diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 77d31d96ee107d37649351ebd4581da1f77d6a5f..5e57dd86f14166e695f1c64b6b5aee56529a4781 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -21,8 +21,7 @@ workflow:
     - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH
 
 variables:
-  # CI_IMAGE: !reference [.ci-unified, variables, CI_IMAGE]
-  CI_IMAGE: "docker.io/paritytech/ci-unified:bullseye-1.77.0-2024-04-10-v20240408"
+  CI_IMAGE: !reference [.ci-unified, variables, CI_IMAGE]
   # BUILDAH_IMAGE is defined in group variables
   BUILDAH_COMMAND: "buildah --storage-driver overlay2"
   RELENG_SCRIPTS_BRANCH: "master"