diff --git a/.ci/test_r_package_windows.ps1 b/.ci/test_r_package_windows.ps1
index 6a39f0b83542..3021a1ecadcd 100644
--- a/.ci/test_r_package_windows.ps1
+++ b/.ci/test_r_package_windows.ps1
@@ -73,13 +73,14 @@ $PKG_FILE_NAME = Get-Item *.tar.gz
 $LOG_FILE_NAME = "lightgbm.Rcheck/00check.log"
 
 Write-Output "Running R CMD check"
-$check_flags = "--as-cran --no-multiarch"
+$env:_R_CHECK_FORCE_SUGGESTS_=0
 if ($env:AZURE -eq "true") {
-  $check_flags = "--no-multiarch --no-manual --ignore-vignettes"
+  Write-Output "Running R CMD check without checking documentation"
+  R.exe CMD check --no-multiarch --no-manual --ignore-vignettes ; Check-Output $?
+} else {
+  Write-Output "Running  R CMD check as CRAN"
+  R.exe CMD check --no-multiarch --as-cran  ${PKG_FILE_NAME} ; Check-Output $?
 }
-Write-Output "using check flags '$check_flags'"
-$env:_R_CHECK_FORCE_SUGGESTS_=0
-R.exe CMD check "${PKG_FILE_NAME}" $check_flags ; Check-Output $?
 
 Write-Output "Looking for issues with R CMD check results"
 if (Get-Content "$LOG_FILE_NAME" | Select-String -Pattern "WARNING" -Quiet) {
diff --git a/.vsts-ci.yml b/.vsts-ci.yml
index 879a039caf90..81fbc1c38366 100644
--- a/.vsts-ci.yml
+++ b/.vsts-ci.yml
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ jobs:
   strategy:
     maxParallel: 6
     matrix:
+      r_package:
+        TASK: r-package
       regular:
         TASK: regular
       sdist:
@@ -42,8 +44,6 @@ jobs:
         TASK: gpu
         METHOD: source
         PYTHON_VERSION: 3.6
-      r_package:
-        TASK: r-package
   steps:
   - script: |
       echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=HOME_DIRECTORY]$AGENT_HOMEDIRECTORY"
@@ -78,6 +78,8 @@ jobs:
   strategy:
     maxParallel: 3
     matrix:
+      r_package:
+        TASK: r-package
       regular:
         TASK: regular
         PYTHON_VERSION: 3.6
@@ -86,8 +88,6 @@ jobs:
         PYTHON_VERSION: 3.5
       bdist:
         TASK: bdist
-      r_package:
-        TASK: r-package
   steps:
   - script: |
       echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=HOME_DIRECTORY]$AGENT_HOMEDIRECTORY"
@@ -126,11 +126,11 @@ jobs:
         TASK: regular
         PYTHON_VERSION: 3.7
       sdist:
-       TASK: sdist
-       PYTHON_VERSION: 2.7
+        TASK: sdist
+        PYTHON_VERSION: 2.7
       bdist:
-       TASK: bdist
-       PYTHON_VERSION: 3.5
+        TASK: bdist
+        PYTHON_VERSION: 3.5
   steps:
   - powershell: |
       Write-Host "##vso[task.prependpath]$env:CONDA\Scripts"
diff --git a/build_r.R b/build_r.R
index 1ca97d70d397..29a4d3cc382d 100644
--- a/build_r.R
+++ b/build_r.R
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 # Sys.setenv("CXX" = "/usr/local/bin/g++-8")
 # Sys.setenv("CC" = "/usr/local/bin/gcc-8")
 
-args <- commandArgs(trailingOnly=TRUE)
+args <- commandArgs(trailingOnly = TRUE)
 INSTALL_AFTER_BUILD <- !("--skip-install" %in% args)
 
 # R returns FALSE (not a non-zero exit code) if a file copy operation
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ version <- gsub(
 tarball <- file.path(getwd(), sprintf("lightgbm_%s.tar.gz", version))
 
 cmd <- sprintf("R CMD INSTALL %s --no-multiarch --with-keep.source", tarball)
-if (INSTALL_AFTER_BUILD){
+if (INSTALL_AFTER_BUILD) {
   .run_shell_command(cmd)
 } else {
   print(sprintf("Skipping installation. Install the package with command '%s'", cmd))