diff --git a/.github/workflows/GCP_GKE.yml b/.github/workflows/GCP_GKE.yml
index ae81c2e..84b6864 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/GCP_GKE.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/GCP_GKE.yml
@@ -19,9 +19,12 @@ jobs:
         project_id: ${{ secrets.GCP_PROJECT_ID }}
         export_default_credentials: true
 
+    - name: Decode and write service account key to file
+      run: |
+        echo "${{ secrets.GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS }}" | base64 --decode > $HOME/gcloud-service-key.json
+
     - name: Authenticate with Google Cloud
       run: |
-        echo "${{ secrets.GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS }}" > $HOME/gcloud-service-key.json
         gcloud auth activate-service-account --key-file=$HOME/gcloud-service-key.json
         gcloud config set project ${{ secrets.GCP_PROJECT_ID }}