diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 24805bd4a..bd6a5b82f 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ check-changelog:
   rules:
     - if: $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME == "develop"
   script:
-    - count=0; for i in changelog.d/"$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID".{add,remove,fix,security,skip}; do [ -f "$i" ]; count=$(( $count + 1 - $? )); done; [ $count -eq 1 ]
+    - echo $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID
+    - count=0; for i in changelog.d/"$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID".{add,remove,fix,security,skip}; do [ -f "$i" ]; count=$(( $count + 1 - $? )); done; if [ $count -eq 1 ]; then echo "ok"; else echo "must have a changelog entry or explicitly skip it"; exit 1; fi
 
 build:
   stage: build