diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 756c90a914c9303460ca5da62054bd0823cd7a61..4af522f84bcb0a0470b24dd36cf2212dbcb44a9e 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -5,10 +5,11 @@ stages:
   - test
   - generate-html
   - generate-pdf
+  - test-urls
 
 test-urls:
   image: debian:buster-slim
-  stage: test
+  stage: test-urls
   tags:
     - lightweight
   before_script:
@@ -22,6 +23,7 @@ test-urls:
   # wouldn't be fair to block a merge due to an unrelated URL suddenly failing.
   # Treat this as a warning that the site has degraded.
   allow_failure: true
+  needs: []
 
 test-html:
   image: