diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index b53e8cc2455f7ef89e4ff6e0c706417b48b06db4..f7165913045398a8f2ddc63a10bed5123bf1da21 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -491,7 +491,7 @@ test_install_debian_package:
      - echo debconf minerva/db/app-user select minerva_user@localhost | debconf-set-selections
      - DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y ./$debian_file
      - screen -d -m java -jar /usr/share/minerva/minerva.jar
-#we need to wait a bit for tomcat start
+#we need to wait a bit - app needs to start
      - sleep 15
      - wget http://localhost:8080/minerva/
 #test if we can login and list projects
@@ -511,7 +511,7 @@ test_deploy_with_db_without_superadmin_rights:
     - tags
   script:
     - apt-get update
-    - DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y postgresql-client
+    - DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y postgresql-client screen
     - mkdir -p /etc/minerva
     - echo "database.uri=jdbc:postgresql://postgres:5432/test" > /etc/minerva/db.properties
     - echo "database.username=test" >> /etc/minerva/db.properties
@@ -520,7 +520,7 @@ test_deploy_with_db_without_superadmin_rights:
     - PGPASSWORD=$POSTGRES_PASSWORD psql -h postgres -U $POSTGRES_USER $POSTGRES_DB < tmp.sql
     - mkdir -p /usr/share/minerva/data/
     - mv minerva.jar /usr/share/minerva/
-    - java -jar /usr/share/minerva/minerva.jar
+    - screen -d -m java -jar /usr/share/minerva/minerva.jar
     - sleep 15
     - curl http://localhost:8080/minerva/
 #test if we can login and list projects