diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 01fcc6a20febda6023821c10f271ef76c1bb9e3b..f22354a3f0f11e41e3e665f6ba2b9140e4ca1c2a 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ ghc-linters:
   image: "registry.gitlab.haskell.org/ghc/ci-images/linters:$DOCKER_REV"
   script:
     - git fetch origin
-    - base="$(git merge-base $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME $CI_COMMIT_SHA)"
+    - base="$(git merge-base origin/$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME $CI_COMMIT_SHA)"
     - "echo Merge base $base"
     #    - validate-commit-msg .git $(git rev-list $base..$CI_COMMIT_SHA)
     - validate-whitespace .git $(git rev-list $base..$CI_COMMIT_SHA)