diff --git a/semaphoreci/semaphore-runner.sh b/semaphoreci/semaphore-runner.sh
index ba0ce21b59..184134e6a3 100755
--- a/semaphoreci/semaphore-runner.sh
+++ b/semaphoreci/semaphore-runner.sh
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ create_container() {
     # create autopkgtest LXC image; this sometimes fails with "Unable to fetch
     # GPG key from keyserver", so retry a few times
     for retry in $(seq 5); do
-        sudo lxc-create -n $CONTAINER -t download -- -d $DISTRO -r $RELEASE -a $ARCH && break
+        sudo lxc-create -n $CONTAINER -t download -- -d $DISTRO -r $RELEASE -a $ARCH --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 && break
         sleep $((retry*retry))
     done