diff --git a/lib/platform/gitlab/index.js b/lib/platform/gitlab/index.js
index d0e4b53ceb5d10cd03e12585575ea4cc33bb1849..87e10b8de52398f85bdce25a2ce5e6ca1d48ee17 100644
--- a/lib/platform/gitlab/index.js
+++ b/lib/platform/gitlab/index.js
@@ -445,8 +445,8 @@ async function ensureIssueClosing(title) {
   for (const issue of issueList) {
     if (issue.title === title) {
       logger.info({ issue }, 'Closing issue');
-      await get.delete(`projects/${config.repository}/issues/${issue.iid}`, {
-        body: { state: 'closed' },
+      await get.put(`projects/${config.repository}/issues/${issue.iid}`, {
+        body: { state_event: 'close' },
       });
     }
   }