diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index 81ea4f0541..c81ec55cb6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -35,8 +35,10 @@ jobs:
         - false
         include:
         - noxenv: linkcheck
-          continue-on-error: >-  # Don't block PRs on linkcheck unrelated failures
-            ${{ toJSON(github.event_name == 'pull_request') }}
+          # Don't block PRs, merge groups, or non-main pushes on unrelated linkcheck failures.
+          continue-on-error: >-
+            ${{ toJSON(contains(['merge_group', 'pull_request'], github.event_name) ||
+              (github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref_name != github.event.repository.default_branch)) }}
 
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@08c6903cd8c0fde910a37f88322edcfb5dd907a8 # v5.0.0