diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 0c3174062..23e1f7776 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -12,9 +12,7 @@ before_script:
 
 test:
   script:
-    - cd app
-    - ./tools/check-string-format.py
-    - cd ..
+    - ./app/tools/check-string-format.py
     - ./gradlew assemble -PdisablePreDex
     # always report on lint errors to the build log
     - sed -i -e 's,textReport .*,textReport true,' app/build.gradle
diff --git a/app/tools/check-string-format.py b/app/tools/check-string-format.py
index 625fcfb82..dcb4cadef 100755
--- a/app/tools/check-string-format.py
+++ b/app/tools/check-string-format.py
@@ -12,9 +12,11 @@ formatRe = re.compile(r'(%%|%[^%](\$.)?)')
 
 validFormatRe = re.compile(r'^(%%|%[sd]|%[0-9]\$[sd])$')
 
+projectdir = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..')
+
 count = 0
 
-for d in glob.glob(os.path.join('src', 'main', 'res', 'values-*')):
+for d in sorted(glob.glob(os.path.join(projectdir, 'src', 'main', 'res', 'values-*'))):
 
     str_path = os.path.join(d, 'strings.xml')
     if not os.path.exists(str_path):