diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 093d5a1..32f4638 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -36,10 +36,11 @@ release:
     - gulp --version  # Verify Gulp is installed
     # Set up SSH agent and add private key for pushing to protected branch
     - 'which ssh-agent || ( apt-get update -y && apt-get install openssh-client -y )'
+    - echo "$SSH_PRIVATE_KEY_ENCODED" | base64 --decode > ~/.ssh/id_rsa
+    - chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa
     - eval $(ssh-agent -s)
-    - echo "$SSH_PRIVATE_KEY" | tr -d '\r' | ssh-add -
+    - ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_rsa
     - mkdir -p ~/.ssh
-    - chmod 700 ~/.ssh
     - ssh-keyscan gitlab.com >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts
   script:
     # Check if VERSION is provided