diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index 215bfabb9..f1f4f852a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -19,4 +19,9 @@ jobs:
           java-version: '17'
           distribution: 'temurin'
       - name: Build and validate project
-        run: mvn -B package --file pom.xml
\ No newline at end of file
+        run: |
+          if [ -z "$(find modules -mindepth 2 -maxdepth 2 -name pom.xml 2>/dev/null)" ]; then
+            echo "No plugin modules present under modules/; skipping build/validate (see test-generation workflow for scaffold validation)."
+            exit 0
+          fi
+          mvn -B package --file pom.xml
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-generation.yml b/.github/workflows/test-generation.yml
index bb7c55b2a..c1794c069 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-generation.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-generation.yml
@@ -2,11 +2,15 @@ name: test-generation
 
 # Integration test for the plugin generation process (gephi-maven-plugin's
 # generate/validate/build-metadata/create-autoupdate goals). Runs on every
-# master commit so a version bump of gephi-maven-plugin in pom.xml is
-# regression-tested before real plugin repos pick it up.
+# master commit and on PRs targeting master (master has no plugin modules of
+# its own, so build.yml's build_and_test can't validate scaffold changes) so
+# a version bump of gephi-maven-plugin in pom.xml is regression-tested before
+# real plugin repos pick it up.
 on:
   push:
     branches: [ master ]
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [ master ]
 
 jobs:
   generation-integration-test: