diff --git a/spec/lib/gitlab/backend/grack_auth_spec.rb b/spec/lib/gitlab/backend/grack_auth_spec.rb
index 9bed8f8ee5c..e903c15a4c8 100644
--- a/spec/lib/gitlab/backend/grack_auth_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/gitlab/backend/grack_auth_spec.rb
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ describe Grack::Auth do
           before do
             gitlab_ci_service = project.build_gitlab_ci_service
             gitlab_ci_service.active = true
-            gitlab_ci_service.token = token
+            gitlab_ci_service.stub(:token).and_return(token)
             gitlab_ci_service.save
 
             env["HTTP_AUTHORIZATION"] = ActionController::HttpAuthentication::Basic.encode_credentials("gitlab-ci-token", token)