diff --git a/jenkins/ci-pipelines/ci_stage_3.groovy b/jenkins/ci-pipelines/ci_stage_3.groovy
index ba406e5..8b4231c 100644
--- a/jenkins/ci-pipelines/ci_stage_3.groovy
+++ b/jenkins/ci-pipelines/ci_stage_3.groovy
@@ -52,8 +52,10 @@
     def upstream_main_job = params.UPSTREAM_SUFFIX
     def save_artifacts = false
 
+    // upstream jobs always use merged artifacts
+    upstream_main_job += '-merge'
+
     if ( JOB_NAME.contains('merge') ) {
-        upstream_main_job += '-merge'
         save_artifacts = true
         println("merge job, saving artifacts")
     }