diff --git a/scripts/native/cicd/hwlab-node-control-plane-refresh.mjs b/scripts/native/cicd/hwlab-node-control-plane-refresh.mjs
index a068c0c7..5618110f 100644
--- a/scripts/native/cicd/hwlab-node-control-plane-refresh.mjs
+++ b/scripts/native/cicd/hwlab-node-control-plane-refresh.mjs
@@ -336,10 +336,16 @@ function injectRuntimeGitopsGuard(pipeline) {
   const step = steps.find((item) => typeof recordOrNull(item)?.script === "string" && item.script.includes("scripts/gitops-render.mjs"));
   if (!step) throw new Error("runtime GitOps guard injection failed: gitops-promote render step missing");
   const originalScript = String(step.script);
-  let script = patchNoBuildNoRolloutSkip(originalScript);
-  const noBuildSkipPatched = script !== originalScript;
+  let script = patchNoBuildNoRolloutCondition(originalScript);
+  const noBuildConditionPatched = script !== originalScript;
+  const beforeSkipPatch = script;
+  script = patchNoBuildNoRolloutSkip(script);
+  const noBuildSkipPatched = script !== beforeSkipPatch;
   const beforeInjection = script;
   script = injectRuntimeGitopsCommands(script);
+  if (hasWillRunGitopsPromoteCoupling(script)) {
+    throw new Error("runtime GitOps guard injection failed: no-build-no-rollout marker remains coupled to willRunGitopsPromote");
+  }
   if (hasNoBuildNoRolloutEarlyExit(script)) {
     throw new Error("runtime GitOps guard injection failed: no-build-no-rollout-plan early exit remains after patch");
   }
@@ -354,12 +360,20 @@ function injectRuntimeGitopsGuard(pipeline) {
     present: true,
     configMapName: runtimeGitopsConfigMapName,
     stepName: stringOrNull(step.name),
+    noBuildConditionPatched,
     noBuildSkipPatched,
     postprocessInjected,
     verifyInjected,
   };
 }
 
+function patchNoBuildNoRolloutCondition(script) {
+  return String(script).replace(
+    /const willRunGitopsPromote = plan\.ciCdPlan && plan\.ciCdPlan\.willRunGitopsPromote === true;\nprocess\.exit\(!willRunGitopsPromote && buildServices\.length === 0 && affectedServices\.length === 0 \? 0 : 1\);/u,
+    "process.exit(buildServices.length === 0 && affectedServices.length === 0 ? 0 : 1);",
+  );
+}
+
 function patchNoBuildNoRolloutSkip(script) {
   return String(script).replace(
     /(^|\n)([ \t]*)echo '\{"event":"gitops-promote","status":"skipped","reason":"no-build-no-rollout-plan"\}'(?:\s*>\s*&2)?\n[ \t]*exit 0(?=\n|$)/u,
@@ -367,6 +381,10 @@ function patchNoBuildNoRolloutSkip(script) {
   );
 }
 
+function hasWillRunGitopsPromoteCoupling(script) {
+  return /process\.exit\(!willRunGitopsPromote && buildServices\.length === 0 && affectedServices\.length === 0 \? 0 : 1\);/u.test(String(script));
+}
+
 function hasNoBuildNoRolloutEarlyExit(script) {
   return /echo '\{"event":"gitops-promote","status":"skipped","reason":"no-build-no-rollout-plan"\}'(?:\s*>\s*&2)?\n[ \t]*exit 0(?=\n|$)/u.test(String(script));
 }
diff --git a/scripts/native/hwlab/runtime-gitops-pipeline-guard.mjs b/scripts/native/hwlab/runtime-gitops-pipeline-guard.mjs
index 3771da77..2bad4c9a 100644
--- a/scripts/native/hwlab/runtime-gitops-pipeline-guard.mjs
+++ b/scripts/native/hwlab/runtime-gitops-pipeline-guard.mjs
@@ -54,10 +54,16 @@ function injectRuntimeGitopsGuard(pipeline) {
   if (!step) throw new Error("runtime GitOps guard injection failed: gitops-promote render step missing");
 
   const originalScript = String(step.script);
-  let script = patchNoBuildNoRolloutSkip(originalScript);
-  const noBuildSkipPatched = script !== originalScript;
+  let script = patchNoBuildNoRolloutCondition(originalScript);
+  const noBuildConditionPatched = script !== originalScript;
+  const beforeSkipPatch = script;
+  script = patchNoBuildNoRolloutSkip(script);
+  const noBuildSkipPatched = script !== beforeSkipPatch;
   const beforeInjection = script;
   script = injectRuntimeGitopsCommands(script);
+  if (hasWillRunGitopsPromoteCoupling(script)) {
+    throw new Error("runtime GitOps guard injection failed: no-build-no-rollout marker remains coupled to willRunGitopsPromote");
+  }
   if (hasNoBuildNoRolloutEarlyExit(script)) {
     throw new Error("runtime GitOps guard injection failed: no-build-no-rollout-plan early exit remains after patch");
   }
@@ -70,12 +76,20 @@ function injectRuntimeGitopsGuard(pipeline) {
     present: true,
     configMapName,
     stepName: typeof step.name === "string" ? step.name : null,
+    noBuildConditionPatched,
     noBuildSkipPatched,
     postprocessInjected: !hasPostprocess(beforeInjection) && postprocessPresent,
     verifyInjected: !hasVerify(beforeInjection) && verifyPresent,
   };
 }
 
+function patchNoBuildNoRolloutCondition(script) {
+  return String(script).replace(
+    /const willRunGitopsPromote = plan\.ciCdPlan && plan\.ciCdPlan\.willRunGitopsPromote === true;\nprocess\.exit\(!willRunGitopsPromote && buildServices\.length === 0 && affectedServices\.length === 0 \? 0 : 1\);/u,
+    "process.exit(buildServices.length === 0 && affectedServices.length === 0 ? 0 : 1);",
+  );
+}
+
 function patchNoBuildNoRolloutSkip(script) {
   return String(script).replace(
     /(^|\n)([ \t]*)echo '\{"event":"gitops-promote","status":"skipped","reason":"no-build-no-rollout-plan"\}'(?:\s*>\s*&2)?\n[ \t]*exit 0(?=\n|$)/u,
@@ -83,6 +97,10 @@ function patchNoBuildNoRolloutSkip(script) {
   );
 }
 
+function hasWillRunGitopsPromoteCoupling(script) {
+  return /process\.exit\(!willRunGitopsPromote && buildServices\.length === 0 && affectedServices\.length === 0 \? 0 : 1\);/u.test(String(script));
+}
+
 function hasNoBuildNoRolloutEarlyExit(script) {
   return /echo '\{"event":"gitops-promote","status":"skipped","reason":"no-build-no-rollout-plan"\}'(?:\s*>\s*&2)?\n[ \t]*exit 0(?=\n|$)/u.test(String(script));
 }
diff --git a/scripts/src/platform-infra-pipelines-as-code-source-artifact.test.ts b/scripts/src/platform-infra-pipelines-as-code-source-artifact.test.ts
index e4cc2814..f70caed0 100644
--- a/scripts/src/platform-infra-pipelines-as-code-source-artifact.test.ts
+++ b/scripts/src/platform-infra-pipelines-as-code-source-artifact.test.ts
@@ -281,26 +281,60 @@ describe("HWLAB YAML-owned Pipeline provenance", () => {
           name: "gitops-promote",
           taskSpec: { steps: [{
             name: "render",
-            script: "node scripts/run-bun.mjs scripts/gitops-render.mjs --use-deploy-images\nnode scripts/run-bun.mjs scripts/gitops-render.mjs --use-deploy-images --check\n",
+            script: [
+              "if [ -s /workspace/source/affected-services.json ] && node - /workspace/source/affected-services.json <<'NODE'",
+              "const fs = require(\"node:fs\");",
+              "const plan = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(process.argv[2], \"utf8\"));",
+              "const buildServices = Array.isArray(plan.buildServices) ? plan.buildServices : [];",
+              "const affectedServices = Array.isArray(plan.affectedServices) ? plan.affectedServices : [];",
+              "const willRunGitopsPromote = plan.ciCdPlan && plan.ciCdPlan.willRunGitopsPromote === true;",
+              "process.exit(!willRunGitopsPromote && buildServices.length === 0 && affectedServices.length === 0 ? 0 : 1);",
+              "NODE",
+              "then",
+              "  printf 'false' > /tekton/results/runtime-ready-required || true",
+              "  echo '{\"event\":\"gitops-promote\",\"status\":\"skipped\",\"reason\":\"no-build-no-rollout-plan\"}'",
+              "  exit 0",
+              "fi",
+              "node scripts/run-bun.mjs scripts/gitops-render.mjs --use-deploy-images",
+              "node scripts/run-bun.mjs scripts/gitops-render.mjs --use-deploy-images --check",
+              "",
+            ].join("\n"),
           }] },
         }] },
       }));
       const overlayBase64 = Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(overlay), "utf8").toString("base64");
+      const postprocessInput = [
+        "set -eu",
+        `render_dir=${JSON.stringify(temporary)}`,
+        `overlay_b64=${JSON.stringify(overlayBase64)}`,
+        ...nodeRuntimePipelinePostprocessScript(),
+      ].join("\n");
       const result = spawnSync("sh", [], {
         cwd: rootPath(),
-        input: [
-          "set -eu",
-          `render_dir=${JSON.stringify(temporary)}`,
-          `overlay_b64=${JSON.stringify(overlayBase64)}`,
-          ...nodeRuntimePipelinePostprocessScript(),
-        ].join("\n"),
+        input: postprocessInput,
         encoding: "utf8",
         timeout: 30_000,
       });
       expect(result.status, result.stderr).toBe(0);
-      const pipeline = Bun.YAML.parse(readFileSync(pipelinePath, "utf8")) as Record<string, any>;
+      const guardedPipelineText = readFileSync(pipelinePath, "utf8");
+      const repeated = spawnSync("node", [
+        resolve(temporary, ".unidesk-runtime-gitops", "runtime-gitops-pipeline-guard.mjs"),
+        "--pipeline", pipelinePath,
+      ], {
+        cwd: rootPath(),
+        env: { ...process.env, UNIDESK_RUNTIME_GITOPS_OVERLAY_B64: overlayBase64 },
+        encoding: "utf8",
+        timeout: 30_000,
+      });
+      expect(repeated.status, repeated.stderr).toBe(0);
+      expect(readFileSync(pipelinePath, "utf8")).toBe(guardedPipelineText);
+      const pipeline = Bun.YAML.parse(guardedPipelineText) as Record<string, any>;
       const scripts = pipeline.spec.tasks.flatMap((task: Record<string, any>) => task.taskSpec.steps.map((step: Record<string, any>) => String(step.script ?? "")));
       expect(Math.max(...scripts.map((script: string) => Buffer.byteLength(script)))).toBeLessThanOrEqual(budget as number);
+      expect(scripts.join("\n")).toContain("process.exit(buildServices.length === 0 && affectedServices.length === 0 ? 0 : 1);");
+      expect(scripts.join("\n")).not.toContain("!willRunGitopsPromote");
+      expect(scripts.join("\n")).toContain("no-build-no-rollout-plan-gitops-verify");
+      expect(scripts.join("\n")).not.toContain('"status":"skipped","reason":"no-build-no-rollout-plan"');
       expect(scripts.join("\n")).toContain("UNIDESK_RUNTIME_GITOPS_OVERLAY_FILE=/etc/unidesk-cicd-runtime-gitops/runtime-gitops-overlay.json");
       expect(scripts.join("\n")).not.toContain("NODE_UNIDESK_RUNTIME_GITOPS_POSTPROCESS");
       expect(scripts.join("\n")).not.toContain("NODE_UNIDESK_RUNTIME_GITOPS_VERIFY");