diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 1c0978ce81ed905503c3fbb906e5374b10c5c9ff..d244026094fd875d635a6daa079daa7a166df13a 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ spack:setup:
   extends:
     - .parallel_job
   script:
-    - SPACK_VERSION=$(jq .spack.version config.json)
+    - SPACK_VERSION=$(jq -r .spack.version config.json)
 
     - |
       if [ ! -d /spack/spack ]; then
@@ -61,15 +61,15 @@ spack:setup:
     - |
       mkdir -p /stack/extra_repos/
 
-      EXTERNAL_REPOS=$(jq '.spack.repos | .[]' config.json)
+      EXTERNAL_REPOS=$(jq -r '.spack.repos | .[]' config.json)
       for repo in ${EXTERNAL_REPOS}
       do
         if [ ! -d /stack/extra_repos/${repo} ]; then
-          git clone -b $(jq ".spack.repos.${repos}.branch" config.json) $(jq ".spack.repos.${repos}.url" config.json) /stack/extra_repos/$repo
+          git clone -b $(jq -r ".spack.repos.${repos}.branch" config.json) $(jq -r ".spack.repos.${repos}.url" config.json) /stack/extra_repos/$repo
         else
           cd /stack/extra_repos/$repo
           git fetch
-          git checkout $(jq ".spack.repos.${repos}.branch" config.json)
+          git checkout $(jq -r ".spack.repos.${repos}.branch" config.json)
         fi
       done