diff --git a/.github/workflows/backport-approval-check.yml b/.github/workflows/backport-approval-check.yml
index f37a52505c0..6f92f08935e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/backport-approval-check.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/backport-approval-check.yml
@@ -58,7 +58,15 @@ permissions:
 
 concurrency:
   group: backport-approvals-${{ github.event.pull_request.number || github.ref }}
-  cancel-in-progress: true
+  # Never cancel the run in progress: this is a required status check, and GitHub
+  # takes the LATEST check run with this name -- a cancelled in-progress run's
+  # terminal state can land after a newer run's success (the job is seconds long)
+  # and block the merge as a failed required check. GitHub still keeps at most one
+  # pending run per group and replaces it on a newer event, but a replaced pending
+  # run is cancelled before its successor even starts, so the last word on the
+  # commit is always a real verdict. A skipped intermediate event loses nothing:
+  # the job reads the live labels and reviews at run time, not the event payload.
+  cancel-in-progress: false
 
 jobs:
   backport-approvals: