diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 10aaa53a58..b3fe3c2db7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -22,10 +22,7 @@ on:
   workflow_dispatch:
   # run for all pull requests and pushes to certain branches
   pull_request:
-  push:
-    branches:
-      - staging
-      - trying
+  merge_group:
 
 concurrency:
   group: ${{ github.base_ref == 'staging' && 'smci-staging' || format('smci-{0}-{1}', github.workflow, github.ref) }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/systest.yml b/.github/workflows/systest.yml
index 234ce2247f..15346ecf22 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/systest.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/systest.yml
@@ -9,10 +9,8 @@ on:
       log_level:
         description: "Log level"
         default: "debug"
-  push:
-    branches:
-      - staging
-      - trying
+  merge_group:
+
 env:
   GCLOUD_KEY: ${{ secrets.GCLOUD_KEY }}
   PROJECT_NAME: ${{ secrets.PROJECT_NAME }}