diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index a33c9713c03440ac4540f6eb7ac284815e5c28ba_LmdpdGxhYi1jaS55bWw=..ed0fc54944027bb26a837b401e3652d89eea3fdf_LmdpdGxhYi1jaS55bWw= 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -67,6 +67,8 @@
   PACKAGE_PROMOTION_RUNNER_TAG: 'promotion'
   NIGHTLY_REPO: 'nightly-builds'
   NIGHTLY_FIPS_REPO: 'nightly-fips-builds'
+  QA_TESTS_UPSTREAM_PROJECT: 'gitlab-org/gitlab'
+  QA_TESTS_REF: 'master'
 
 .distribution-amd64-tags:
   - distribution-runner
diff --git a/gitlab-ci-config/gitlab-com.yml b/gitlab-ci-config/gitlab-com.yml
index a33c9713c03440ac4540f6eb7ac284815e5c28ba_Z2l0bGFiLWNpLWNvbmZpZy9naXRsYWItY29tLnltbA==..ed0fc54944027bb26a837b401e3652d89eea3fdf_Z2l0bGFiLWNpLWNvbmZpZy9naXRsYWItY29tLnltbA== 100644
--- a/gitlab-ci-config/gitlab-com.yml
+++ b/gitlab-ci-config/gitlab-com.yml
@@ -178,8 +178,8 @@
       yaml_variables: true
       pipeline_variables: true
     include:
-      - project: gitlab-org/gitlab
-        ref: master
+      - project: ${QA_TESTS_UPSTREAM_PROJECT}
+        ref: ${QA_TESTS_REF}
         file: .gitlab/ci/package-and-test/main.gitlab-ci.yml
 
 #####################