diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 03fa6cad80cd1768884f50e9d5ec9f32885c8e59..2ec8a29306fb2e1d5600c7dafd160276aff99a9a 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@ pages:
   stage: build
   image: zoo.smok.co/build/build:pages
   before_script:
-    - pip install --upgrade Cython setuptools pip
-    - pip install -r requirements.txt
+    - pip install --break-system-packages --upgrade Cython setuptools pip
+    - pip install --break-system-packages -r requirements.txt
     - python setup.py build_ext --inplace
   script:
     - cd docs
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ pages:
     - pip install -r requirements.txt
     - python setup.py build_ext --inplace
   variables:
-    CI: "1"
+    TESTING: "1"
   script:
     - python -m coverage run -m nose2 -vv -F
     - python -m coverage report
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 0c145e1f9ac7b9c45af8a32b2e8b2de290eb2b97..6a80b7e584d300726a34f0cc20351da3959622f2 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from setuptools import setup, Extension
 directive_defaults = get_directive_defaults()
 directive_defaults['language_level'] = '3'
 macros = []
-if 'DEBUG' in os.environ or 'CI' in os.environ:
+if 'TESTING' in os.environ:
     print('Enabling debug mode')
     directive_defaults['linetrace'] = True
     directive_defaults['profiling'] = True