diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 53e9fd6294baf8c07d19bc30ab8e1201f24c97b1..a1737c5f6b78305e7b4b7895355aa15e7bfabe68 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -152,6 +152,9 @@ lava-zephyr-96b-nitrogen-tests:
     CI_LAVA_JOB_DEFINITION: "https://git.ostc-eu.org/OSTC/infrastructure/lava/lava-config/-/raw/master/lava.ostc-eu.org/job-definitions/ci/nitrogen-test.yaml"
     CI_BUILD_JOB_NAME: zephyr-96b-nitrogen-tests
     CI_REPORT_JOB_NAME: lava-report
+  rules:
+    - if: '$CI_LAVA_TOKEN == ""'
+      when: never
 
 lava-report:
   needs: [lava-linux-avenger96, lava-qemu-x86_64, lava-qemu-x86]
diff --git a/.oniro-ci/test-generic.yaml b/.oniro-ci/test-generic.yaml
index 5101bb8021b961585dc0ea648a9202ff03916c80..6536b93f90349ee4613018cbb3866e3d0c3864da 100644
--- a/.oniro-ci/test-generic.yaml
+++ b/.oniro-ci/test-generic.yaml
@@ -8,7 +8,12 @@
   interruptible: true
   image:
     name: registry.ostc-eu.org/ostc/containers/ostc-builder:latest
+  variables:
+    CI_LAVA_INSTANCE: "https://lava.ostc-eu.org/"
   before_script:
+    - test -n "$CI_LAVA_TOKEN" || (
+        echo "precondition failed - please disable the child job if CI_LAVA_TOKEN not set in gitlab CI/CD variables"
+        && exit 1 )
     # Check if the job is configured properly.
     - test -n "$CI_LAVA_JOB_DEFINITION" || (
         echo "precondition failed - set CI_LAVA_JOB_DEFINITION to the URL of the LAVA test job definition"
@@ -77,6 +82,8 @@
   image:
     name: registry.ostc-eu.org/ostc/containers/ostc-builder:latest
   stage: report
+  variables:
+    CI_LAVA_INSTANCE: "https://lava.ostc-eu.org/"
   script:
     - |
       for file in $(find ./ -name "job_ids_*.txt"); do