diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index e4322d02dc01199d2cc4bcdc8944d4fbe33444d3..076514ad4edfd0db912f90a829b0384353b6e9cd 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -85,6 +85,13 @@ xform-cat-ubuntu18:
     - ubuntu18
   variables:
     OS: 'ubuntu18'  
+    
+xform-cat-ubuntu16:
+  <<: *xform-cat
+  tags:
+    - ubuntu16
+  variables:
+    OS: 'ubuntu16'  
 
 #
 # run zipr internal tests