diff --git a/spec/models/ci/variable_spec.rb b/spec/models/ci/variable_spec.rb
index 77201c6f4198fe122c9b3bc4f401c62062e8f093..50f7c029af8902e54c847204f04d6c39c510c857 100644
--- a/spec/models/ci/variable_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/ci/variable_spec.rb
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ describe Ci::Variable, models: true do
 
   describe 'validations' do
     it { is_expected.to include_module(HasVariable) }
-    it { is_expected.to validate_presence_of(:key) }
     it { is_expected.to validate_uniqueness_of(:key).scoped_to(:project_id, :environment_scope) }
     it { is_expected.to validate_length_of(:key).is_at_most(255) }
     it { is_expected.to allow_value('foo').for(:key) }