diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index cb1c83736af54c01c899e7c8fa609a9572858d31..4c7e65e3d8b46470f1748aa2e8fed0c550997008 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ variables:
 
 stages:
     - build
+    - format
     - test
 
 build:
@@ -37,7 +38,7 @@ build:
 
 format:
     <<: *global_tag_def
-    stage: build
+    stage: format
     script:
         - clang-format --version # we use clang-format-10 exclusively
         - ./ext/amfe/scripts/format_code.py