diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index bea15ca6..4401b1a3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -285,3 +285,14 @@ jobs:
         run: nix develop --impure .#ci -c ./deploy/dev/multi-dc/test/multi-dc-raft.sh install
         env:
           OPERATOR_VERSION: ${{ needs.artifacts.outputs.container-image-tag }}
+
+  verify:
+    name: Verify
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Block Merge Commits
+        uses: Morishiri/block-merge-commits-action@v1.0.1
+        with:
+          repo-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3c1f800e..df7f5b50 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,17 +1,14 @@
 # A Self-Documenting Makefile: http://marmelab.com/blog/2016/02/29/auto-documented-makefile.html
 
-export PATH := $(abspath bin/):${PATH}
+# Target image name
+IMG ?= ghcr.io/bank-vaults/vault-operator:dev
 
-# Project variables
-DOCKER_REGISTRY ?= ghcr.io/bank-vaults
-DOCKER_IMAGE = ${DOCKER_REGISTRY}/vault-operator:dev
-
-# Testing variables
+# Default test data
 TEST_K8S_VERSION ?= 1.27.1
 TEST_VAULT_VERSION ?= 1.14.1
 TEST_BANK_VAULTS_VERSION ?= 1.20.3-softhsm
 TEST_BANK_VAULTS_IMAGE ?= ghcr.io/bank-vaults/bank-vaults:$(TEST_BANK_VAULTS_VERSION)
-TEST_OPERATOR_VERSION ?= $(lastword $(subst :, ,$(DOCKER_IMAGE)))
+TEST_OPERATOR_VERSION ?= $(lastword $(subst :, ,$(IMG)))
 TEST_KIND_CLUSTER ?= vault-operator
 
 # Setting SHELL to bash allows bash commands to be executed by recipes.
@@ -29,15 +26,10 @@ default: help
 help: ## Display this help
 	@awk 'BEGIN {FS = ":.*##"; printf "\nUsage:\n  make \033[36m<target>\033[0m\n"} /^[a-zA-Z_0-9-]+:.*?##/ { printf "  \033[36m%-15s\033[0m %s\n", $$1, $$2 } /^##@/ { printf "\n\033[1m%s\033[0m\n", substr($$0, 5) } ' $(MAKEFILE_LIST)
 
-.PHONY: deps
-deps: $(HELM) $(CONTROLLER_GEN) $(KUSTOMIZE) $(KIND)
-deps: $(HELM_DOCS) $(ENVTEST) $(GOLANGCI_LINT) $(LICENSEI) $(KURUN)
-deps: ## Download and install dependencies
-
 ##@ Checks
 
 .PHONY: fmt
-fmt: ## Autofix linting issues
+fmt: ## Run go fmt against code
 	$(GOLANGCI_LINT) run --fix
 
 .PHONY: lint-go
@@ -56,19 +48,32 @@ lint-docker: # Run Dockerfile lint check
 lint-yaml: # Run yaml lint check
 	$(YAMLLINT) $(if ${CI},-f github,) --no-warnings .
 
+.PHONY: lint
+lint: lint-go lint-helm lint-docker lint-yaml
+lint: ## Run lint checks
+
+.PHONY: test
+test: ## Run tests
+	KUBEBUILDER_ASSETS="$(shell $(ENVTEST) use $(TEST_K8S_VERSION) --bin-dir $(LOCALBIN) -p path)" \
+		go test -race -v ./... -coverprofile cover.out
+
+.PHONY: test-acceptance
+test-acceptance: ## Run acceptance tests. If running on a local kind cluster, run "make import-test" before this
+	VAULT_VERSION=$(TEST_VAULT_VERSION) BANK_VAULTS_VERSION=$(TEST_BANK_VAULTS_VERSION) OPERATOR_VERSION=$(TEST_OPERATOR_VERSION) \
+		go test -race -v -timeout 900s -tags kubeall ./test
+
 .PHONY: license-check
-license-check: ## Run license checks
+license-check: ## Run license check
 	$(LICENSEI) check
 	$(LICENSEI) header
 
-.PHONY: lint
-lint: lint-go lint-helm lint-docker lint-yaml
-lint: ## Run lint checks
+.PHONY: check
+check: lint test ## Run lint checks and tests
 
 ##@ Development
 
 .PHONY: run
-run: deploy ## Run operator from your host
+run: deploy ## Run manager from your host
 	OPERATOR_NAME=vault-dev BANK_VAULTS_IMAGE=$(TEST_BANK_VAULTS_IMAGE)  go run cmd/main.go -verbose
 
 .PHONY: up
@@ -81,10 +86,10 @@ down: ## Destroy kind development environment
 
 .PHONY: import-image
 import-image: docker-build ## Import manager image to kind image repository
-	$(KIND) load docker-image ${DOCKER_IMAGE} --name $(TEST_KIND_CLUSTER)
+	$(KIND) load docker-image ${IMG} --name $(TEST_KIND_CLUSTER)
 
 .PHONY: import-test
-import-test: import-image ## Import testing images to kind image repository
+import-test: import-image ## Import images required for tests to kind image repository
 	docker pull ghcr.io/bank-vaults/bank-vaults:$(TEST_BANK_VAULTS_VERSION)
 	docker pull hashicorp/vault:$(TEST_VAULT_VERSION)
 
@@ -103,13 +108,13 @@ build: ## Build manager binary
 # More info: https://docs.docker.com/develop/develop-images/build_enhancements/
 .PHONY: docker-build
 docker-build: ## Build docker image
-	docker build -t ${DOCKER_IMAGE} .
+	docker build -t ${IMG} .
 
 # PLATFORMS defines the target platforms for  the manager image be build to provide support to multiple
-# architectures. (i.e. make docker-buildx DOCKER_IMAGE=myregistry/mypoperator:0.0.1). To use this option you need to:
+# architectures. (i.e. make docker-buildx IMG=myregistry/mypoperator:0.0.1). To use this option you need to:
 # - able to use docker buildx . More info: https://docs.docker.com/build/buildx/
 # - have enable BuildKit, More info: https://docs.docker.com/develop/develop-images/build_enhancements/
-# - be able to push the image for your registry (i.e. if you do not inform a valid value via DOCKER_IMAGE=<myregistry/image:<tag>> then the export will fail)
+# - be able to push the image for your registry (i.e. if you do not inform a valid value via IMG=<myregistry/image:<tag>> then the export will fail)
 # To properly provided solutions that supports more than one platform you should use this option.
 PLATFORMS ?= linux/arm64,linux/amd64,linux/s390x,linux/ppc64le
 .PHONY: docker-buildx
@@ -118,7 +123,7 @@ docker-buildx: ## Build docker image for cross-platform support
 	sed -e '1 s/\(^FROM\)/FROM --platform=\$$\{BUILDPLATFORM\}/; t' -e ' 1,// s//FROM --platform=\$$\{BUILDPLATFORM\}/' Dockerfile > Dockerfile.cross
 	- docker buildx create --name project-v3-builder
 	docker buildx use project-v3-builder
-	- docker buildx build --push --platform=$(PLATFORMS) --tag ${DOCKER_IMAGE} -f Dockerfile.cross .
+	- docker buildx build --push --platform=$(PLATFORMS) --tag ${IMG} -f Dockerfile.cross .
 	- docker buildx rm project-v3-builder
 	rm Dockerfile.cross
 
@@ -131,17 +136,6 @@ helm-chart: ## Build helm chart
 artifacts: docker-build helm-chart
 artifacts: ## Build docker image and helm chart
 
-##@ Test
-
-.PHONY: test
-test: ## Run tests
-	KUBEBUILDER_ASSETS="$(shell $(ENVTEST) use $(TEST_K8S_VERSION) --bin-dir $(LOCALBIN) -p path)" \
-		go test -race -v ./... -coverprofile cover.out
-
-.PHONY: test-acceptance
-test-acceptance: ## Run acceptance tests. If running on a local kind cluster, run "make import-test" before this
-	VAULT_VERSION=$(TEST_VAULT_VERSION) BANK_VAULTS_VERSION=$(TEST_BANK_VAULTS_VERSION) OPERATOR_VERSION=$(TEST_OPERATOR_VERSION) \
-		go test -race -v -timeout 900s -tags kubeall ./test
 
 ##@ Autogeneration
 
@@ -182,13 +176,15 @@ uninstall: gen-manifests ## Uninstall CRDs from the K8s cluster. Call with ignor
 
 .PHONY: deploy
 deploy: gen-manifests ## Deploy manager resources to the K8s cluster
-	cd deploy/manager && $(KUSTOMIZE) edit set image controller=${DOCKER_IMAGE}
+	cd deploy/manager && $(KUSTOMIZE) edit set image controller=${IMG}
 	$(KUSTOMIZE) build deploy/default | kubectl apply -f -
 
 .PHONY: undeploy
 clean: ## Clean manager resources from the K8s cluster. Call with ignore-not-found=true to ignore resource not found errors during deletion.
 	$(KUSTOMIZE) build deploy/default | kubectl delete --ignore-not-found=$(ignore-not-found) -f -
 
+##@ Dependencies
+
 # Dependency tool chain
 GOLANGCI_VERSION = 1.53.3
 LICENSEI_VERSION = 0.8.0
@@ -257,3 +253,8 @@ $(KURUN): $(LOCALBIN)
 # TODO: add support for hadolint and yamllint dependencies
 HADOLINT ?= hadolint
 YAMLLINT ?= yamllint
+
+.PHONY: deps
+deps: $(HELM) $(CONTROLLER_GEN) $(KUSTOMIZE) $(KIND)
+deps: $(HELM_DOCS) $(ENVTEST) $(GOLANGCI_LINT) $(LICENSEI) $(KURUN)
+deps: ## Download and install dependencies