diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 2f83360f9d1e30c8a784919986e782e8c8bbd6f9..eaab5a5c8ac2424c4740917dd0398446ec23ed29 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -409,11 +409,18 @@ job_publish_release:
       ls -lah ./rpmbuild/SRPMS
 
     # This section deals with ssh keys
-    - eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
+    - |
+      . <(ssh-agent -s)
     - echo "chmod 600 ${xv6_rsa}"
     - chmod 600 "${xv6_rsa}"
     - ssh-add "${xv6_rsa}"
     - ssh-add -L
+
+    #
+    # set up a trap to kill ssh-agent on exit
+    #
+    - trap 'test -n "$SSH_AGENT_PID" && . <(ssh-agent -k)' 0
+
     - mkdir -p ~/.ssh && touch ~/.ssh/known_hosts
     # Remove the old key(s) from known_hosts
     - ssh-keygen -t rsa -R snspackages.ornl.gov