diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 07512de19..c57a210ee 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ integration-shadow:
   image: debian:11-slim
   script:
     - ./maint/preserve -u
-    - echo -e "\e[0Ksection_start:`date +%s`:shadow_install_deps[collapsed=true]\r\e[0KInstalling shadow and tgen"
+    - ./maint/ci_log_span start "shadow_install_deps[collapsed=true]" "Installing shadow and tgen"
     # We're going to install binaries to $HOME/.local/bin
     - 'export PATH=$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH'
 
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ integration-shadow:
     - hash -r
 
     - DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install -y tshark
-    - echo -e "\e[0Ksection_end:`date +%s`:shadow_install_deps\r\e[0K"
+    - ./maint/ci_log_span end "shadow_install_deps"
 
     # Run tests
     - pushd tests/shadow
diff --git a/maint/ci_log_span b/maint/ci_log_span
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..f2366c711
--- /dev/null
+++ b/maint/ci_log_span
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# usage: $0 <start|end> <section_identifier+config> "<human section name>"
+# eg: $0 start 'my_section[collapsed=true]' "My collapsed section"
+#
+# See also: https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/jobs/#custom-collapsible-sections
+set -euo pipefail
+
+if [ "$1" = start ]; then
+	echo -e "\e[0Ksection_start:$(date +%s):$2\r\e[0K$3"
+else
+	echo -e "\e[0Ksection_end:$(date +%s):$2\r\e[0K"
+fi