diff --git a/zuul/connection/gerrit.py b/zuul/connection/gerrit.py
index 62891cd9a2..ac2c33d170 100644
--- a/zuul/connection/gerrit.py
+++ b/zuul/connection/gerrit.py
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ class GerritConnection(BaseConnection):
             if val is True:
                 cmd += ' --%s' % key
             else:
-                cmd += ' --%s %s' % (key, val)
+                cmd += ' --label %s=%s' % (key, val)
         cmd += ' %s' % change
         out, err = self._ssh(cmd)
         return err