diff --git a/.github/workflows/backend_checks.yml b/.github/workflows/backend_checks.yml
index 438ae11ea2..28f43337c2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/backend_checks.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/backend_checks.yml
@@ -2,10 +2,10 @@ name: Backend Code Checks
 
 on:
   pull_request:
+    # This only ignores paths if there are _no_ commits on the branch that touch other files
     paths-ignore:
       - "**.md"
       - "clients/**"
-      - "CHANGELOG.md"
   push:
     branches:
       - "main"