diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 48d04ce53c463c3917da94cde8d99a6c77215c5e..8198bda74a88f7f8590b9051782162a420ecdfa9 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ push-merge-request-image-gitlab:
     - mvn deploy -Pgitlab-deploy $MAVEN_DEPLOY_CLI_OPTS $MAVEN_CLI_OPTS
   rules:
     - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'merge_request_event'
-      when: never  # Step disabled until gitlab container registry works
+      when: manual
 
 push-merge-request-image-nexus:
   stage: publish