diff --git a/.github/workflows/go-test.yml b/.github/workflows/go-test.yml
index 3e4d45ef39..28f37ddcea 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/go-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/go-test.yml
@@ -23,9 +23,14 @@ jobs:
   # The race run fans out over the shard matrix. The shards and the upgrade
   # tests all roll up into the `Race Detection` job below, which is the single
   # check name branch protection and the merge queue require.
+  #
+  # The giga-1 merge queue only runs the fast gates: every PR into giga-1 has
+  # already run the shards and the upgrade tests, so both are skipped there and
+  # the roll-up accepts `skipped` for that queue alone.
   race-shard:
     name: Race Detection (shard ${{ matrix.shard }})
     runs-on: uci-default
+    if: github.event.merge_group.base_ref != 'refs/heads/giga-1'
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -71,6 +76,7 @@ jobs:
   upgrade-test:
     name: Upgrade tests
     runs-on: uci-default
+    if: github.event.merge_group.base_ref != 'refs/heads/giga-1'
     env:
       GOFLAGS: -race -tags=ledger,test_ledger_mock
     steps:
@@ -109,6 +115,12 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Verify race shards and upgrade tests succeeded
         run: |
+          if [[ "${{ github.event.merge_group.base_ref }}" == "refs/heads/giga-1" \
+            && "${{ needs.race-shard.result }}" == "skipped" \
+            && "${{ needs.upgrade-test.result }}" == "skipped" ]]; then
+            echo "Race shards and upgrade tests skipped in the giga-1 merge queue."
+            exit 0
+          fi
           if [[ "${{ needs.race-shard.result }}" != "success" ]]; then
             echo "race shards did not succeed (${{ needs.race-shard.result }})"
             exit 1
@@ -123,8 +135,8 @@ jobs:
     name: Coverage
     runs-on: ${{ github.event_name == 'merge_group' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'uci-default' }}
     # Skip coverage report for merge groups, since the queue is about safety check. The merge to main will run coverage anyway.
-    # GitHub does not support setting "Required" CI workflows for merge queue separately from PRs. If we skip the job at top
-    # level we then have to work around result not being present. Hence, the repeated if statements per step.
+    # The job runs in every merge queue (a job-level skip would also do) but logs why it is a no-op there, so the
+    # per-step if statements keep the "Check trigger" step as the visible reason.
     env:
       GOFLAGS: -tags=ledger,test_ledger_mock
     steps:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/integration-test.yml b/.github/workflows/integration-test.yml
index ce7011e0dd..e1254612e4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/integration-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/integration-test.yml
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ on:
   merge_group:
     branches:
       - main
-      - giga-1
       - release/**
 
 concurrency:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/sei-db-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/sei-db-tests.yml
index 46ea20585e..f4800a3c07 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/sei-db-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/sei-db-tests.yml
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ jobs:
   test:
     name: Race Detection
     runs-on: uci-default
+    # The giga-1 merge queue only runs the fast gates; every PR into giga-1 has
+    # already run this suite. A skipped job still satisfies the required check.
+    if: github.event.merge_group.base_ref != 'refs/heads/giga-1'
     env:
       GOFLAGS: -race -tags=ledger,test_ledger_mock
     steps:
@@ -72,8 +75,8 @@ jobs:
     name: Coverage
     runs-on: ${{ github.event_name == 'merge_group' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'uci-default' }}
     # Skip coverage report for merge groups, since the queue is about safety check. The merge to main will run coverage anyway.
-    # GitHub does not support setting "Required" CI workflows for merge queue separately from PRs. If we skip the job at top
-    # level we then have to work around result not being present. Hence, the repeated if statements per step.
+    # The job runs in every merge queue (a job-level skip would also do) but logs why it is a no-op there, so the
+    # per-step if statements keep the "Check trigger" step as the visible reason.
     env:
       GOFLAGS: -tags=ledger,test_ledger_mock
     steps: