diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 29f8479..e977e6c 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -38,7 +38,23 @@ release:
     - mkdir -p ~/.ssh
     - chmod 700 ~/.ssh
     # Decode and set up the SSH private key
-    - echo "$SSH_PRIVATE_KEY_ENCODED" | base64 -d > ~/.ssh/id_rsa
+    - |
+      printf '%s' "$SSH_PRIVATE_KEY_BASE64" | tr -d '\r\n' | base64 --decode > ~/.ssh/id_rsa
+      if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+      echo "Error: Failed to decode SSH_PRIVATE_KEY_BASE64."
+      exit 1
+      fi
+      # Verify the key file
+      if [ ! -s ~/.ssh/id_rsa ]; then
+      echo "Error: SSH private key file is empty or does not exist."
+        exit 1
+      fi
+      ssh-keygen -y -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa > /dev/null
+      if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+        echo "Error: Invalid SSH private key."
+        exit 1
+      fi
+    # Set permissions
     - chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa
     # Start the SSH agent and add the key
     - eval $(ssh-agent -s)