diff --git a/.github/workflows/maintainer-approval.yml b/.github/workflows/maintainer-approval.yml
index f478ed97ac..60d2cd7fc3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/maintainer-approval.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/maintainer-approval.yml
@@ -22,7 +22,11 @@ jobs:
     # This name is the required status check context. Changing it silently
     # breaks the ruleset entry that gates merges on this job.
     name: OpenShell / Maintainer Approval
-    if: github.repository_owner == 'NVIDIA'
+    # Merge-group checks do not need to repeat the PR approval evaluation.
+    if: >-
+      github.repository_owner == 'NVIDIA' &&
+      github.event_name != 'merge_group' &&
+      github.event.pull_request.state == 'open'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     timeout-minutes: 5
     steps:
@@ -45,23 +49,10 @@ jobs:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           GH_REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
           PR_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
-          # merge_group carries no pull request in its payload, but the queue
-          # branch names the entry: gh-readonly-queue/main/pr-3027-<base sha>.
-          MERGE_GROUP_REF: ${{ github.ref_name }}
         shell: bash
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
 
-          if [ -z "${PR_NUMBER:-}" ]; then
-            if [[ "$MERGE_GROUP_REF" =~ /pr-([0-9]+)-[0-9a-f]+$ ]]; then
-              PR_NUMBER="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
-            else
-              # Fail closed: an unrecognised ref must never satisfy the gate.
-              echo "::error::No pull request resolved from '$MERGE_GROUP_REF'."
-              exit 1
-            fi
-          fi
-
           gh api --paginate "repos/$GH_REPO/pulls/$PR_NUMBER/reviews" --jq '.[]' \
             | jq -s '.' > reviews.json