diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index c6178c4d58888c91e4fd086bf9e28a629133fb0d..19337361bceb8415ad44c1b05258d41ae0ef1c9d 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 before_script:
-  - module add  python/3.6.4-anaconda
+  - module load python/3.6.4-anaconda
   - pip install --user pytest-pythonpath==0.7.1 pytest-cov==2.5.1
   - module load singularity/3.5.3
   - module load nextflow/20.01.0
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ humanDataHub:
   - query=$(echo 'https://'${referenceBase}'/ermrest/catalog/2/entity/RNASeq:Reference_Genome/Reference_Version='${GRCv}'.'${GRCp}'/Annotation_Version=GENCODE%20'${GENCODE})
   - curl --request GET ${query} > refQuery.json
   - refURL=$(python ./workflow/scripts/extractRefData.py)
-  - conda create --name deriva1.3 python=3.6 -y
+  - conda create --name deriva1.3 python=3.6 -y --no-deps
   - source activate deriva1.3
   - pip install deriva==1.3.0 --user
   - deriva-hatrac-cli --host ${referenceBase} get ${refURL}
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ mousenDataHub:
   - query=$(echo 'https://'${referenceBase}'/ermrest/catalog/2/entity/RNASeq:Reference_Genome/Reference_Version='${GRCv}'.'${GRCp}'/Annotation_Version=GENCODE%20'${GENCODE})
   - curl --request GET ${query} > refQuery.json
   - refURL=$(python ./workflow/scripts/extractRefData.py)
-  - conda create --name deriva1.3 python=3.6 -y
+  - conda create --name deriva1.3 python=3.6 -y --no-deps
   - source activate deriva1.3
   - pip install deriva==1.3.0 --user
   - deriva-hatrac-cli --host ${referenceBase} get ${refURL}