diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 633f4c17a5f58d278f2304e14c35f9b74709f21a..535478bdb6382e7fbee9f336193a4f68b1437980 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ variables:
   REMOVE_PACKAGES: dnsmasq odhcpd-ipv6only wpad-basic-mbedtls
   DISABLED_SERVICES: firewall
   EXTRA_IMAGE_NAME: fakedOrg
+  #OPENWISP_SHARED_SECRET: <from-ci-variables>
 
 .build_image:
   stage: build
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@ variables:
     - cd /builder
   script:
     - export REMOVE_PACKAGES=$(for package in ${REMOVE_PACKAGES}; do echo -n "-${package} "; done)
+    - sed -i "s/%OPENWISP_SHARED_SECRET%/${OPENWISP_SHARED_SECRET}/" ${FILES}/etc/config/openwisp
     - make image PROFILE=${PROFILE} FILES=${FILES} PACKAGES="${DEFAULT_PACKAGES} ${EXTRA_PACKAGES} ${REMOVE_PACKAGES}"
   after_script:
     - if [[ -d /builder/bin ]]; then mv /builder/bin .; fi
diff --git a/files/etc/config/openwisp b/files/etc/config/openwisp
index 07874331ca91aaec3af53b2b375ff3ceced70541..93524165d57a87f85f0ba1cbd6e79867570f1b32 100644
--- a/files/etc/config/openwisp
+++ b/files/etc/config/openwisp
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 config controller 'http'
         option url 'https://openwisp.faked.org'
-        option shared_secret 'fSIRdSdsqoKYhCYovE1zareJhkOKMtcL'
+        option shared_secret '%OPENWISP_SHARED_SECRET%'
         option default_hostname 'openwrt'
         option mac_interface 'br-lan'
         option management_interface 'br-lan'
-        option verify_ssl '0'