diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 1260afa..ccfbf38 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -73,14 +73,14 @@ downloads:
   script:
     - set -exo pipefail
     - packer init sources
-    - files=""
+    - files=()
     - |-
       for vars in $(find distros/ -name '*.pkrvars.hcl'); do
         file=$(echo var.iso.url | packer console -var-file=${vars} -config-type=hcl2 sources/)
-        files="${file} ${files}"
+        files+=("${file}")
       done
       pushd cache
-      curl --parallel -L -O "${files}"
+      curl --parallel -L -O "${files[@]}"
       popd
 
 trigger: