diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index efa227b653cffdb3fea6571618ea9f383b95f98b..5acc5fca94ee7b378ff6fea2dfd6acaf28264418 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ deploy_to_staging:
   - kubectl config use-context ${CHEMBL_NS_STAGING}
   - echo ${CHEMBL_NS_STAGING} ${KUBE_URL_HX} ${KUBE_CLUS_NAME_HX} ${KUBE_USER_HX}
   - kubectl get pods -n ${CHEMBL_NS_STAGING}
-  - kubectl create secret generic ${ENV_SECRET_NAME_STAGING} --from-file=.env=${ENV_STAGING_FILE_PATH} -o yaml -n ${CHEMBL_NS_STAGING} --dry-run=client | kubectl apply -f -
+  - kubectl create secret generic ${ENV_SECRET_NAME_STAGING} --from-file=.env=${ENV_STAGING_FILE_PATH} -o yaml -n ${CHEMBL_NS_STAGING} --dry-run=client | kubectl replace -f -
   - cat ${ENV_STAGING_FILE_PATH}
   - sed -i "s~<NAMESPACE>~${CHEMBL_NS_STAGING}~g" k8s-deployment.yaml
   - sed -i "s~<HTTP_PROXY>~${HTTP_PROXY_HX}~g" k8s-deployment.yaml