diff --git a/share/spack/gitlab/cloud_pipelines/.gitlab-ci.yml b/share/spack/gitlab/cloud_pipelines/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 45300eb7378..ec4f5ac98fc 100644
--- a/share/spack/gitlab/cloud_pipelines/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/share/spack/gitlab/cloud_pipelines/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -138,6 +138,7 @@ default:
     KUBERNETES_MEMORY_REQUEST: 16G
     # avoid moving targets like branches and tags
     SPACK_CONCRETIZER_REQUIRE_CHECKSUM: 1
+    SPACK_BACKTRACE: 1
   interruptible: true
   timeout: 60 minutes
   retry: