diff --git a/.github/scripts/check_skip_ci.sh b/.github/scripts/check_skip_ci.sh
index 628d8489dfad..a22b990f2692 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/check_skip_ci.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/check_skip_ci.sh
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ set -euo pipefail
 #
 # ... `git merge-base origin/$SKIP_CHECK_BRANCH HEAD` would return commit `D`
 # `...HEAD` specifies from the common ancestor to the latest commit on the current branch (HEAD)..
-files_to_check=$(git diff --name-only "$(git merge-base origin/$SKIP_CHECK_BRANCH HEAD~)"...HEAD)
+skip_check_branch=${SKIP_CHECK_BRANCH:?SKIP_CHECK_BRANCH is required}
+files_to_check=$(git diff --name-only "$(git merge-base origin/$skip_check_branch HEAD~)"...HEAD)
 
 # Define the directories to check
 skipped_directories=("docs/" "ui/" "website/" "grafana/" ".changelog/")
@@ -46,4 +47,4 @@ for file_to_check in "${files_to_check_array[@]}"; do
 done
 
 echo "Changes detected in only documentation files - skipping tests and build"
-echo "skip-ci=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
\ No newline at end of file
+echo "skip-ci=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"