diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/ci.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/ci.py
index 11273998427..ac40cac697a 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/ci.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/ci.py
@@ -549,14 +549,6 @@ def ci_rebuild(args):
     commands = [
         # apparently there's a race when spack bootstraps? do it up front once
         [SPACK_COMMAND, "-e", env.path, "bootstrap", "now"],
-        [
-            SPACK_COMMAND,
-            "-e",
-            env.path,
-            "config",
-            "add",
-            "config:db_lock_timeout:120",  # 2 minutes for processes to fight for a db lock
-        ],
         [
             SPACK_COMMAND,
             "-e",