diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 4d17b70028810..06890c9ed3346 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ variables:
   BUILDAH_IMAGE:                   "quay.io/buildah/stable:v1.27"
   RUSTY_CACHIER_SINGLE_BRANCH:     master
   RUSTY_CACHIER_DONT_OPERATE_ON_MAIN_BRANCH: "true"
+  RUSTY_CACHIER_COMPRESSION_METHOD: zstd
   ZOMBIENET_IMAGE:                 "docker.io/paritytech/zombienet:v1.3.22"
 
 default: