diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 512e0bca68..423c6da45a 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -113,6 +113,8 @@ before_script:
     - source tools/ci/utils.sh
     - is_based_on_commits $REQUIRED_ANCESTOR_COMMITS
     - export IDF_TOOLS_PATH="${HOME}/.espressif_runner_${CI_RUNNER_ID}_${CI_CONCURRENT_ID}"
+    # Clean up idf-env.json which might not be compatible with one produced by newer ESP-IDF versions
+    - rm -f ${IDF_TOOLS_PATH}/idf-env.json
     - $IDF_PATH/tools/idf_tools.py install-python-env
     # On macOS, these tools need to be installed
     - $IDF_PATH/tools/idf_tools.py --non-interactive install cmake ninja