diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index ee85cfa12..df3808ad6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -12,9 +12,10 @@ jobs:
         mode: [debug, release]
         config-opt: [--enable-mcsat, --enable-thread-safety]
         env: [CC=gcc CXX=g++, CC=clang CXX=clang++]
+        is-per-thread-state-branch: 
+          - ${{ github.ref == 'refs/heads/per-thread-state' }}
         exclude:
-          - if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/per-thread-state'
-            config-opt: --enable-mcsat        
+          - is-per-thread-state-branch: true
         include:
           - os: ubuntu-latest
             mode: gcov