diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index c6143f4f4c..3ef72c21d5 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -2062,7 +2062,7 @@ pairwise:
     - MERGE_REQUEST_ID="$(git log -1 --format='%b' | sed --silent -e "s|^See merge request ${CI_PROJECT_PATH}\!||p")"
     - >
       : stop if this is not a merge request in the current project\'s namespace
-    - test -n "$MERGE_REQUEST_ID"
+    - test -n "$MERGE_REQUEST_ID" || exit 0
     - git clone --depth 1 https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/bind9-qa.git
 
 backports: