diff --git a/app/models/ci/build.rb b/app/models/ci/build.rb
index 3921b389969..d55a53bd6e8 100644
--- a/app/models/ci/build.rb
+++ b/app/models/ci/build.rb
@@ -556,7 +556,7 @@ module Ci
         { key: 'CI_JOB_NAME', value: name, public: true },
         { key: 'CI_JOB_STAGE', value: stage, public: true },
         { key: 'CI_JOB_TOKEN', value: token, public: false },
-        { key: 'CI_COMMIT_REF', value: sha, public: true },
+        { key: 'CI_COMMIT_SHA', value: sha, public: true },
         { key: 'CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME', value: ref, public: true },
         { key: 'CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG', value: ref_slug, public: true },
         { key: 'CI_REGISTRY_USER', value: CI_REGISTRY_USER, public: true },
diff --git a/doc/ci/variables/README.md b/doc/ci/variables/README.md
index ec3493776e8..4c3e7c4e86e 100644
--- a/doc/ci/variables/README.md
+++ b/doc/ci/variables/README.md
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ version of Runner required.
 | **CI_BUILD_ID**         | all    | all    | The unique id of the current job that GitLab CI uses internally. Deprecated, use CI_JOB_ID |
 | **CI_JOB_ID**           | 9.0    | all    | The unique id of the current job that GitLab CI uses internally |
 | **CI_BUILD_REF**        | all    | all    | The commit revision for which project is built. Deprecated, use CI_COMMIT_REF |
-| **CI_COMMIT_REF**       | 9.0    | all    | The commit revision for which project is built |
+| **CI_COMMIT_SHA**       | 9.0    | all    | The commit revision for which project is built |
 | **CI_BUILD_TAG**        | all    | 0.5    | The commit tag name. Present only when building tags. Deprecated, use CI_COMMIT_TAG |
 | **CI_COMMIT_TAG**       | 9.0    | 0.5    | The commit tag name. Present only when building tags. |
 | **CI_BUILD_NAME**       | all    | 0.5    | The name of the job as defined in `.gitlab-ci.yml`. Deprecated, use CI_JOB_NAME |
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ Example values:
 
 ```bash
 export CI_JOB_ID="50"
-export CI_COMMIT_REF="1ecfd275763eff1d6b4844ea3168962458c9f27a"
+export CI_COMMIT_SHA="1ecfd275763eff1d6b4844ea3168962458c9f27a"
 export CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME="master"
 export CI_REPOSITORY="https://gitab-ci-token:abcde-1234ABCD5678ef@example.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce.git"
 export CI_COMMIT_TAG="1.0.0"
diff --git a/spec/models/ci/build_spec.rb b/spec/models/ci/build_spec.rb
index 18368de060c..fd6ea2d6722 100644
--- a/spec/models/ci/build_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/ci/build_spec.rb
@@ -1293,7 +1293,7 @@ describe Ci::Build, :models do
         { key: 'CI_JOB_NAME', value: 'test', public: true },
         { key: 'CI_JOB_STAGE', value: 'test', public: true },
         { key: 'CI_JOB_TOKEN', value: build.token, public: false },
-        { key: 'CI_COMMIT_REF', value: build.sha, public: true },
+        { key: 'CI_COMMIT_SHA', value: build.sha, public: true },
         { key: 'CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME', value: build.ref, public: true },
         { key: 'CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG', value: build.ref_slug, public: true },
         { key: 'CI_PROJECT_ID', value: project.id.to_s, public: true },