diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index cd2e956db9..e1ebe03a55 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -237,10 +237,9 @@ checkupdates_runner:
   script:
     # Get app IDs in this batch
     - |
-      declare -a metadata_files
-      metadata_files=$( ls metadata/*.yml | sort -R )
+      metadata_files=($( ls metadata/*.yml))
       declare -a APPIDS
-      for file in "${metadata_files[@]}"
+      for file in ${metadata_files}
       do
         filename="${file##*/}"
         filename_without_extension="${filename%.*}"