diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.elife.yml b/.gitlab-ci.elife.yml
index 6dcd6e9e17cd71c8fe3ac3267efe38c04a6747d0..3b729ecbbd0c9f0f3df3b0dc57cce78aabbebfb6 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.elife.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.elife.yml
@@ -91,13 +91,15 @@ lint:
     - psql -h postgres -U kotahidev -d kotahidev -c "create extension pgcrypto;"
     # use the example env for tests
     - cp .env.example .env
+    # specify host here else it confuses the linked postgres image
+    - POSTGRES_HOST=postgres yarn test:all:chrome:$TEST_ITEM
     
 test-chrome:
   <<: *run_test_template
+  variables:
+    TEST_ITEM: elife
   script:
     - *run_script_template
-    # specify host here else it confuses the linked postgres image
-    - POSTGRES_HOST=postgres yarn test:all:chrome:elife
 
 # .test_template: &run_test_template
 #   image: $IMAGE_ORG/$IMAGE_NAME-dev:$CI_COMMIT_SHA