diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index aef531c2a67..655a769e7a5 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -479,6 +479,8 @@ make git archive:
   tags:
     - packet.net
   script:
+    # Compactify the .git directory
+    - git gc --aggressive
     # compress the current folder
     - tar -cvzf ../$CI_PROJECT_NAME.tar.gz .