diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 568d9ccf389b49d86ad7bc7f1256659c5d7190d2..15bc5fd83ccb1b0e3a388792d43256f533eb85cc 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -89,15 +89,15 @@ synth-check-programming-files:
 ###############################################################################
 trigger-opc-ua-test:
     stage: hardware
-#    only:
-#        changes:
-#            - applications/lofar2/images/lofar2_unb2b_sdp_station_full.tar.gz
-#    - if: '$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"'
-
-    rules:
-        - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'merge_request_event'
+    only:
         changes:
             - applications/lofar2/images/lofar2_unb2b_sdp_station_full.tar.gz
+        - merge_requests
+
+#    rules:
+#        - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'merge_request_event'
+#        changes:
+#            - applications/lofar2/images/lofar2_unb2b_sdp_station_full.tar.gz
 
 #  script:
 #      - echo "Found updated programming file. Triggering OPC UA test in SDPTR repo."