diff --git a/bot/check-test.sh b/bot/check-test.sh
index 3b16e5c415..9ff383a13b 100755
--- a/bot/check-test.sh
+++ b/bot/check-test.sh
@@ -23,6 +23,16 @@ else
     [[ ${VERBOSE} -ne 0 ]] && echo "   Slurm output file '"${job_out}"' NOT found"
 fi
 
+# First, account for the scenario where we skipped the ReFrame test suite
+SKIPPED=-1
+if [[ ${SLURM_OUTPUT_FOUND} -eq 1 ]]; then
+  GP_skipped='Skipping EESSI test site run'
+  grep_reframe_skipped=$(grep -v "^>> searching for " ${job_dir}/${job_out} | grep "${GP_skipped}")
+  [[ $? -eq 0 ]] && SKIPPED=1 || SKIPPED=0
+  # have to be careful to not add searched for pattern into slurm out file
+  [[ ${VERBOSE} -ne 0 ]] && echo ">> searching for '"${GP_skipped}"'"
+  [[ ${VERBOSE} -ne 0 ]] && echo "${grep_reframe_skipped}"
+fi
 
 # ReFrame prints e.g.
 #[----------] start processing checks
@@ -90,6 +100,10 @@ elif [[ ${SUCCESS} -eq 1 ]]; then
     summary=":grin: SUCCESS"
     reason=""
     status="SUCCESS"
+elif [[ ${SKIPPED} -eq 1]]; then
+    summary="SKIPPED"
+    reason="The EESSI test suite was skipped. If this PR only deploys scripts, that's expected behavior."
+    status="SUCCESS"
 # Should come before general errors: if FAILED==1, it indicates the test suite ran
 # otherwise the pattern wouldn't have been there
 elif [[ ${FAILED} -eq 1 ]]; then
diff --git a/test_suite.sh b/test_suite.sh
index e7151e00e7..ad756f9c76 100755
--- a/test_suite.sh
+++ b/test_suite.sh
@@ -198,6 +198,10 @@ fi
 # Get the subset of test names based on the test mapping and tags (e.g. CI, 1_node)
 module_list="module_files.list.txt"
 mapping_config="tests/eessi_test_mapping/software_to_tests.yml"
+if [[ ! -f "$module_list" || ! -f "$mapping_config" ]]; then
+    fatal_error "No new module files were found. Skipping EESSI test site run."
+fi
+
 # Run with --debug for easier debugging in case there are issues:
 python3 tests/eessi_test_mapping/map_software_to_test.py --module-list "${module_list}" --mapping-file "${mapping_config}" --debug
 REFRAME_NAME_ARGS=$(python3 tests/eessi_test_mapping/map_software_to_test.py --module-list "${module_list}" --mapping-file "${mapping_config}")