diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index d2a30af..3a99c6e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -6,13 +6,6 @@ on:
   pull_request:
     branches: [ main ]
 
-env:
-  # WHY?: services are executed way before the env can be sourced from .env file
-  # NOTE: still inlining these values because of gitea misbehaving with env loads
-  DB_NAME: piku_test_db
-  DB_USER: test
-  DB_PASSWORD: password123
-
 jobs:
   setup-environment:
     name: Generate Certificates
@@ -69,10 +62,10 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs: setup-environment
     services:
-      postgres:
+      db:
         image: postgres:16-alpine
         env:
-          POSTGRES_DB: piku_test_db
+          POSTGRES_DB: piku__test
           POSTGRES_USER: test
           POSTGRES_PASSWORD: password123
         ports:
@@ -99,17 +92,19 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           cp ../.env.example ../.env
           uv sync
-
-      - name: Lint & Test
-        run: |
+          export DB_NAME="piku__test"
+          export DB_USER="test"
+          export DB_PASSWORD="password123"
           if [ "$GITEA_ACTIONS" = "true" ]; then
-            export DB_HOST="postgres"
+            export DB_HOST="db"
             export DB_PORT="5432"
           else
             export DB_HOST="127.0.0.1"
             export DB_PORT="5442"
           fi
 
+      - name: Lint & Test
+        run: |
           uv run ruff check
           uv run python manage.py test