diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 9d7e84e04fbe3168c6026bcbcb366cca50adefce..7c24a53ef582b155ecde8015fa0611ef3dc9b0e0 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ automated_test:
     - python3 -m pip install ".[test]"
     - echo "Running automated test. This can take sometime to finish depending on the test data."
     - echo "Given variables are REFERENCE=$REFERENCE, OUTPUT=$OUTPUT, DETECTORS=$DETECTORS, CALIBRATION=$CALIBRATION"
-    - python3 -m pytest ./tests/test_reference_runs --color yes --verbose --release-test --reference-folder /gpfs/exfel/d/cal_tst/reference_folder --out-folder /gpfs/exfel/data/scratch/xcaltst/test/$OUTPUT  --detectors $DETECTORS --calibration $CALIBRATION
+    - python3 -m pytest -x ./tests/test_reference_runs --color yes --verbose --release-test --reference-folder /gpfs/exfel/d/cal_tst/reference_folder --out-folder /gpfs/exfel/data/scratch/xcaltst/test/$OUTPUT  --detectors $DETECTORS --calibration $CALIBRATION
   timeout: 24 hours
   resource_group: automated_test