diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 2460678d4..d27b58f9a 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -108,9 +108,9 @@ linux-centos:
     paths:
     - target/release/parity
     name: "x86_64-unknown-centos-gnu_parity"
-linux-i686:   
-  stage: build   
-  image: ethcore/rust-i686:latest   
+linux-i686:
+  stage: build
+  image: ethcore/rust-i686:latest
   only:
     - beta
     - tags
@@ -348,7 +348,7 @@ windows:
     - set INCLUDE=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.1A\Include;C:\vs2015\VC\include;C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Include\10.0.10240.0\ucrt
     - set LIB=C:\vs2015\VC\lib;C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Lib\10.0.10240.0\ucrt\x64
     - set RUST_BACKTRACE=1
-    - set RUSTFLAGS=%RUSTFLAGS% 
+    - set RUSTFLAGS=%RUSTFLAGS%
     - rustup default stable-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc
     - cargo build -j 8 --release #%CARGOFLAGS%
     - curl -sL --url "https://github.com/ethcore/win-build/raw/master/SimpleFC.dll" -o nsis\SimpleFC.dll
@@ -422,13 +422,14 @@ test-rust-stable:
   image: ethcore/rust:stable
   before_script:
     - git submodule update --init --recursive
-    - export JS_FILES_MODIFIED=$(git --no-pager diff --name-only $CI_BUILD_REF^ $CI_BUILD_REF | grep \.js | wc -l)
-    - echo $JS_FILES_MODIFIED
-    - if [ "$JS_FILES_MODIFIED" = 0  ]; then echo "skip js test"; else ./js/scripts/install-deps.sh;fi
+    - export RUST_FILES_MODIFIED=$(git --no-pager diff --name-only $CI_BUILD_REF^ $CI_BUILD_REF | grep -v ^js/ | wc -l)
+    - export JS_FILES_MODIFIED=$(git --no-pager diff --name-only $CI_BUILD_REF^ $CI_BUILD_REF | grep ^js/ | wc -l)
+    - echo "rust/js modified: $RUST_FILES_MODIFIED / $JS_FILES_MODIFIED"
+    - if [ "$JS_FILES_MODIFIED" = 0 ]; then echo "Skipping JS deps install since no JS files modified."; else ./js/scripts/install-deps.sh;fi
   script:
     - export RUST_BACKTRACE=1
-    - echo $JS_FILES_MODIFIED
-    - if [ "$JS_FILES_MODIFIED" = 0 ]; then echo "skip js test"&./test.sh $CARGOFLAGS; else echo "skip rust test"&./js/scripts/lint.sh&./js/scripts/test.sh&./js/scripts/build.sh; fi
+    - if [ "$JS_FILES_MODIFIED" = 0 ]; then echo "Skipping JS lint since no JS files modified."; else ./js/scripts/lint.sh && ./js/scripts/test.sh && ./js/scripts/build.sh; fi
+    - if [ "$RUST_FILES_MODIFIED" = 0 ]; then echo "Skipping Rust tests since no Rust files modified."; else ./test.sh $CARGOFLAGS; fi
   tags:
     - rust
     - rust-stable
@@ -437,13 +438,13 @@ js-test:
   image: ethcore/rust:stable
   before_script:
     - git submodule update --init --recursive
-    - export JS_FILES_MODIFIED=$(git --no-pager diff --name-only $CI_BUILD_REF^ $CI_BUILD_REF | grep \.js | wc -l)
+    - export JS_FILES_MODIFIED=$(git --no-pager diff --name-only $CI_BUILD_REF^ $CI_BUILD_REF | grep ^js/ | wc -l)
     - echo $JS_FILES_MODIFIED
-    - if [ "$JS_FILES_MODIFIED" = 0 ]; then echo "skip js test"; else ./js/scripts/install-deps.sh;fi
+    - if [ "$JS_FILES_MODIFIED" = 0 ]; then echo "Skipping JS deps install since no JS files modified."; else ./js/scripts/install-deps.sh;fi
   script:
     - export RUST_BACKTRACE=1
     - echo $JS_FILES_MODIFIED
-    - if [ "$JS_FILES_MODIFIED" = 0 ]; then echo "skip js test"; else echo "skip rust test"&./js/scripts/lint.sh&./js/scripts/test.sh&./js/scripts/build.sh; fi
+    - if [ "$JS_FILES_MODIFIED" = 0 ]; then echo "Skipping JS lint since no JS files modified."; else ./js/scripts/lint.sh && ./js/scripts/test.sh && ./js/scripts/build.sh; fi
   tags:
     - rust
     - rust-stable
@@ -484,11 +485,11 @@ js-release:
     - stable
   image: ethcore/rust:stable
   before_script:
-    - export JS_FILES_MODIFIED=$(git --no-pager diff --name-only $CI_BUILD_REF^ $CI_BUILD_REF | grep \.js | wc -l)
+    - export JS_FILES_MODIFIED=$(git --no-pager diff --name-only $CI_BUILD_REF^ $CI_BUILD_REF | grep ^js/ | wc -l)
     - echo $JS_FILES_MODIFIED
-    - if [ "$JS_FILES_MODIFIED" = 0  ]; then echo "skip js build"; else ./js/scripts/install-deps.sh;fi
+    - if [ "$JS_FILES_MODIFIED" = 0  ]; then echo "Skipping JS deps install since no JS files modified."; else ./js/scripts/install-deps.sh;fi
   script:
     - echo $JS_FILES_MODIFIED
-    - if [ "$JS_FILES_MODIFIED" = 0 ]; then echo "skip js build"; else ./js/scripts/build.sh&&./js/scripts/release.sh; fi
+    - if [ "$JS_FILES_MODIFIED" = 0 ]; then echo "Skipping JS rebuild since no JS files modified."; else ./js/scripts/build.sh && ./js/scripts/release.sh; fi
   tags:
     - javascript