diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index f99e762..87a0c5a 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ cache:
   paths:
     # utilize pip caching
     - .cache/pip
-    # cache the virtualenv to reduce load
+    # cache the virtual environment
     - venv/
 
 # setup environemnt
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ before_script:
   - virtualenv venv
   - source venv/bin/activate
   - pip install -r requirements.txt
+  - pip install flake8
 
 stages:
   - syntax
@@ -25,8 +26,6 @@ stages:
 
 syntax:
   stage: syntax
-  before_script:
-    - pip install flake8
   script:
     # breaking errors ie syntax errors
     - flake8 --select=E9,F63,F7,F82 --show-source