diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 91665f6517..c5f5fba01d 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -140,6 +140,7 @@ precheck:debian:sid:amd64:
   <<: *debian_sid_amd64_image
   stage: precheck
   script:
+    - perl util/check-changes CHANGES
     - perl -w util/merge_copyrights
     - diff -urNap util/copyrights util/newcopyrights
     - rm util/newcopyrights
diff --git a/util/check-changes b/util/check-changes
index be506aefef..51766f97e1 100644
--- a/util/check-changes
+++ b/util/check-changes
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ eval 'exec /usr/bin/perl -S $0 ${1+"$@"}'
 			# this emulates #! processing on NIH machines.
 			# (remove #! line above if indigestible)
 
-$master = 1;
+$master = 0;
 
 eval '$'.$1.'$2;' while $ARGV[0] =~ /^([A-Za-z_0-9]+=)(.*)/ && shift;
 			# process any FOO=bar switches