diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 3790266..8c6de88 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -100,16 +100,15 @@ deploy:
 
 sync_branches:
   stage: sync
-  image: alpine/git:latest
+  image: node:20  # <-- reuse existing node image
   rules:
     - if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "production"'
+  before_script:
+    - git config --global user.email "gitlab-ci@rheinsw.com"
+    - git config --global user.name "GitLab CI"
   script:
-    - |
-      git config --global user.email "gitlab-ci@rheinsw.com"
-      git config --global user.name "RheinSW GitLab CI"
-      git remote set-url origin "https://oauth2:${CI_JOB_TOKEN}@${CI_SERVER_HOST}/${CI_PROJECT_PATH}.git"
-
-      git checkout dev
-      git pull origin dev
-      git merge --no-ff origin/production
-      git push origin dev
+    - git remote set-url origin "https://oauth2:${CI_JOB_TOKEN}@${CI_SERVER_HOST}/${CI_PROJECT_PATH}.git"
+    - git checkout dev
+    - git pull origin dev
+    - git merge --no-ff origin/production
+    - git push origin dev