diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index d7b8c68a1e82dd64b5b0d243c6c6452bf48d8532..4bd9f8019320029a11172a0f31fe3e609694c39a 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ test_ood_image:
     - |
       cat > user_data.txt << OEOF
       #!/bin/bash
-      echo "Starting user_data: $(date)"
+      echo "Starting user_data: \$(date)"
       cat > /etc/resolv.conf << EOF
       search openstack.internal cm.cluster rc.uab.edu ib.cluster drac.cluster eth.cluster ib-hdr.cluster
       nameserver 172.20.0.25
@@ -274,11 +274,11 @@ test_ood_image:
       echo "$DEV_KEY" >> /root/.ssh/authorized_keys
       mkdir -p /run/shibboleth
       chown shibd:shibd /run/shibboleth
-      echo "Installing s3cmd: $(date)"
+      echo "Installing s3cmd: \$(date)"
       pip3 install s3cmd
-      echo "Downloading hostkey via s3cmd: $(date)"
+      echo "Downloading hostkey via s3cmd: \$(date)"
       s3cmd get --force -r --access_key=$AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID --secret_key=$AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY --host=$AWS_HOST --host-bucket=$AWS_HOST s3://knightly-key/ /etc/ssh/
-      echo "Download completed: $(date)"
+      echo "Download completed: \$(date)"
       OEOF
     - >
       export NEW_INSTANCE_ID=$(openstack server create