diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index 778a94a021..17237f57b8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -263,6 +263,7 @@ jobs:
                    -Dalpaka_ACC_GPU_CUDA_ENABLE=${{ matrix.cuda }} \
                    -Dalpaka_CXX_STANDARD=17 \
                    -DCMAKE_CUDA_COMPILER=$CUDACXX \
+                   -DCMAKE_CUDA_HOST_COMPILER=$CXX \
                    -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=$VCPKG_INSTALLATION_ROOT/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake
       - name: build tests + examples
         run: |