diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 338ad8f..b96ab88 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -188,7 +188,12 @@ deploy_to_vps:
     - apk add --no-cache openssh-client
     # Load the SSH private key stored in the CI variable SSH_PRIVATE_KEY
     - eval $(ssh-agent -s)
-    - echo "$SSH_PRIVATE_KEY" | tr -d '\r' | ssh-add -
+    - |
+      if [ -f "${SSH_PRIVATE_KEY:-}" ]; then
+        tr -d '\r' < "$SSH_PRIVATE_KEY" | ssh-add -
+      else
+        printf '%s\n' "$SSH_PRIVATE_KEY" | tr -d '\r' | ssh-add -
+      fi
     - mkdir -p ~/.ssh && chmod 700 ~/.ssh
     # Scan and trust the VPS host key (avoids manual known_hosts management)
     - ssh-keyscan -H $VPS_IP >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts