diff --git a/share/spack/gitlab/ascent_pipeline.yml b/share/spack/gitlab/ascent_pipeline.yml
index 48aca38a3163cae1d380d9ee16c28d475b83ca17..e61772c5c6a193ad0a32d3a07f68e617c4813399 100644
--- a/share/spack/gitlab/ascent_pipeline.yml
+++ b/share/spack/gitlab/ascent_pipeline.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 merge_pipeline:
   only:
   - develop
+  variables:
+    SPACK_REF: ${CI_COMMIT_SHA}
   trigger:
     project: ecpcitest/e4s
     strategy: depend