diff --git a/templates/gitlab-ci-semrel.yml b/templates/gitlab-ci-semrel.yml
index 53f2c650d710b413010572120b1ef10a6e10dffd..f816284768045a498f98ab5546a04ea529ab7277 100644
--- a/templates/gitlab-ci-semrel.yml
+++ b/templates/gitlab-ci-semrel.yml
@@ -804,7 +804,7 @@ stages:
     - !reference [.semrel-scripts]
     - install_ca_certs "${CUSTOM_CA_CERTS:-$DEFAULT_CA_CERTS}"
     # install git and OpenSSH
-    - maybe_install_packages ca-certificates git openssh-client gpg
+    - maybe_install_packages ca-certificates git openssh-client gpg gpg-agent
     - maybe_install_yq
     - cd "${SEMREL_CONFIG_DIR}"
     - prepare_semantic_release