diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index cdaeb4c..6a5bd50 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -80,11 +80,15 @@
                 $NIX_EXTRA_CONF
               "
               echo -e "\\e[0Ksection_end:`date +%s`:nix_setup\\r\\e[0K"
-
-              echo -e "\\e[0Ksection_start:`date +%s`:nix_deps[collapsed=true]\\r\\e[0KFetching deps for job"
-              nix build .#gitlab-ci-job-deps:$1
-              source $(readlink -f result)
-              echo -e "\\e[0Ksection_end:`date +%s`:nix_deps\\r\\e[0K"
+              ${
+                "" # load the job's deps only if the name was passed
+              }
+              if [[ ! -z $1 ]]; then
+                echo -e "\\e[0Ksection_start:`date +%s`:nix_deps[collapsed=true]\\r\\e[0KFetching deps for job"
+                nix build .#gitlab-ci-job-deps:$1
+                source $(readlink -f result)
+                echo -e "\\e[0Ksection_end:`date +%s`:nix_deps\\r\\e[0K"
+              fi
             '';
           finalizeScript = push_command:
             pkgs.writeShellScriptBin "finalize_nix_ci" ''
diff --git a/gitlab-ci.yml b/gitlab-ci.yml
index a96107b..66f9699 100644
--- a/gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -10,14 +10,15 @@ stages:
 nix-ci:build:
   stage: build
   image: registry.gitlab.com/technofab/nix-gitlab-ci/nix-ci:${NIX_CI_IMAGE_TAG}
+  before_script:
+    - source setup_nix_ci
   script:
     # build the generated-gitlab-ci.yml
     - nix build .#gitlab-ci-config
     - install result generated-gitlab-ci.yml
   after_script:
     # upload to binary cache
-    - echo $(nix-store --query --references result)
-    # TODO: upload deps using cachix or attic
+    - finalize_nix_ci
   artifacts:
     paths:
       - generated-gitlab-ci.yml