diff --git a/templates/gitlab-ci-semrel.yml b/templates/gitlab-ci-semrel.yml
index a3f7150da97123cd286fde5a1ba971d040c13257..bad65bc252918031cf2f0ac346bdebdbebb4a933 100644
--- a/templates/gitlab-ci-semrel.yml
+++ b/templates/gitlab-ci-semrel.yml
@@ -710,7 +710,8 @@ semantic-release:
   stage: publish
   script:
     - configure_commit_signing
-    - semantic-release --ci ${SEMREL_DRY_RUN:+-d} ${TRACE:+--debug}
+    - if [[ "$SEMREL_DRY_RUN" == "true" ]]; then dry_run_opt="-d"; fi
+    - semantic-release ${TRACE:+--debug} --ci $dry_run_opt
   dependencies: []
   rules:
     - if: '$SEMREL_RELEASE_DISABLED == "true"'