diff --git a/templates/gitlab-ci-node.yml b/templates/gitlab-ci-node.yml
index 4058dcd4cb0ea8f4af4bc024e3f22bb0ba28dcde..a21ae3720be737b42a2913881e105eaf7e113bc2 100644
--- a/templates/gitlab-ci-node.yml
+++ b/templates/gitlab-ci-node.yml
@@ -679,8 +679,8 @@ node-build:
     expire_in: 1 day
   rules:
     # always if $NODE_BUILD_DISABLED not set
-    - if: '$NODE_BUILD_DISABLED == "true"'
-      when: never
+    - if: '$NODE_BUILD_DISABLED != "true"'
+    # else (test only): apply test-policy
     - !reference [.test-policy, rules]
 
 node-lint: