diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
index 4f5e814..a23b789 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -56,6 +56,13 @@ jobs:
             echo "CI_TOKEN not set; skipping auto-merge"; exit 0; fi
           OWNER=$(echo "$REPO" | cut -d'/' -f1)
           NAME=$(echo "$REPO" | cut -d'/' -f2)
+          echo "Checking labels for PR #$PR_NUMBER on $OWNER/$NAME"
+          LABELS_JSON=$(curl -sS -X GET \
+            -H "Authorization: token ${CI_TOKEN}" \
+            "${GITEA_BASE_URL}/api/v1/repos/${OWNER}/${NAME}/issues/${PR_NUMBER}")
+          if ! echo "$LABELS_JSON" | grep -qi '"name":"automerge"'; then
+            echo "Label 'automerge' not present; skipping merge"; exit 0; fi
+          echo "Label 'automerge' present; proceeding to merge"
           echo "Merging PR #$PR_NUMBER for $OWNER/$NAME"
           RESP=$(curl -sS -X POST \
             -H "Content-Type: application/json" \