diff --git a/actions/java-gradle-assess-code-quality/action.yaml b/actions/java-gradle-assess-code-quality/action.yaml
index 1cd88b642..277401a72 100644
--- a/actions/java-gradle-assess-code-quality/action.yaml
+++ b/actions/java-gradle-assess-code-quality/action.yaml
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ inputs:
 
 runs:
   using: "composite"
+  if: "!contains(github.repository, 'playground')"
   steps:
     - name: Check out repository
       uses: bakdata/ci-templates/actions/checkout@1.49.0
diff --git a/actions/java-gradle-publish-plugin/action.yml b/actions/java-gradle-publish-plugin/action.yml
index 8cb2f005f..b15854b9c 100644
--- a/actions/java-gradle-publish-plugin/action.yml
+++ b/actions/java-gradle-publish-plugin/action.yml
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ inputs:
     default: "."
 runs:
   using: "composite"
+  if: "!contains(github.repository, 'playground')"
   steps:
     - name: Check out repository
       uses: bakdata/ci-templates/actions/checkout@1.49.0
diff --git a/actions/java-gradle-publish/action.yaml b/actions/java-gradle-publish/action.yaml
index f673c152d..e434013ac 100644
--- a/actions/java-gradle-publish/action.yaml
+++ b/actions/java-gradle-publish/action.yaml
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ inputs:
     default: "."
 runs:
   using: "composite"
+  if: "!contains(github.repository, 'playground')"
   steps:
     - name: Check out repository
       uses: bakdata/ci-templates/actions/checkout@1.49.0
@@ -76,7 +77,7 @@ runs:
         CI: "true"
 
     - name: Publish releases to Nexus
-      if: ${{ startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/') }}
+      if: ${{ startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')}}
       run: |
         export SIGNING_SECRET_KEY_RING_FILE="$(mktemp -d)/secring.gpg"
         echo '${{ inputs.signing-secret-key-ring }}' | base64 -d > $SIGNING_SECRET_KEY_RING_FILE