diff --git a/lib/api/runners.rb b/lib/api/runners.rb
index 4faba9dc87ba635a93c30707dd523bb7abc63eb2..be92355d9a6c69dedf8536e7efd0f93a30bb66ff 100644
--- a/lib/api/runners.rb
+++ b/lib/api/runners.rb
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ module API
 
         runner = get_runner(params[:runner_id])
         authenticate_enable_runner!(runner)
-        Ci::RunnerProject.create(runner: runner, project: user_project)
+        runner.assign_to(user_project)
 
         present runner, with: Entities::Runner
       end