diff --git a/.github/workflows/procedural.yaml b/.github/workflows/procedural.yaml
index cffcbe45a00..cc1bf629465 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/procedural.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/procedural.yaml
@@ -40,8 +40,71 @@ jobs:
     name: Waiting for Engineering
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     if: github.event_name == 'issue_comment' && !github.event.issue.pull_request
-      && contains(github.event.issue.labels.*.name, 'waiting-for-author')
     steps:
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        run: |
+          sudo apt-get update
+          sudo apt-get install jq
+      - name: Get board column of issue
+        id: extract_board_column
+        continue-on-error: true
+        run: |
+          # The following GraphQL query requests all issues from a project. It uses the repository
+          # to locate the issue and get the reference to the project. Then, a filter is applied
+          # (number: $project) to get the reference to the desired project (i.e., the bug board).
+          # Now, all issues from this project are requested. The reason for fetching all issues is
+          # because the current implementation of the GitHub GraphQL API for projects does not
+          # support server-side filters for issues and we can not restrict the query to our issue.
+          # Therefore, we fetch all issues and apply a filter on the client side in the next step.
+          gh api graphql --paginate -F issue=$ISSUE -F project=$PROJECT -F owner=$OWNER -F repo=$REPO -f query='
+            query board_column($issue: Int!, $project: Int!, $owner: String!, $repo: String!, $endCursor: String) {
+              repository(owner: $owner, name: $repo) {
+                issue(number: $issue) {
+                  projectV2(number: $project) {
+                    items(first: 100, after: $endCursor) {
+                      nodes {
+                        fieldValueByName(name: "Status") {
+                          ... on ProjectV2ItemFieldSingleSelectValue {
+                            name
+                          }
+                        }
+                        content {
+                          ... on Issue {
+                           id
+                           title
+                           number
+                           repository {
+                             name
+                             owner {
+                               login
+                              }
+                            }
+                          }
+                        }
+                      }
+                      pageInfo {
+                         hasNextPage
+                         endCursor
+                      }
+                    }
+                  }
+                }
+              }
+            }
+            ' > api_result
+            # Get board column for issue
+            board_column=$(jq -r ".data.repository.issue.projectV2.items.nodes[] |
+                select (.content.number == $ISSUE and .content.repository.name == \"$REPO\" and .content.repository.owner.login == \"$OWNER\") |
+                .fieldValueByName.name" api_result)
+            echo "Issue is in column: $board_column"
+            echo "issue_board_column=$board_column" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+        env:
+          OWNER: timescale
+          REPO: ${{ github.event.repository.name }}
+          PROJECT: 55
+          ISSUE: ${{ github.event.issue.number }}
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.ORG_AUTOMATION_TOKEN }}
+
       - name: Check if organization member
         uses: tspascoal/get-user-teams-membership@v2
         id: checkUserMember
@@ -51,13 +114,15 @@ jobs:
          team: 'database-eng'
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.ORG_AUTOMATION_TOKEN }}
       - name: Remove waiting-for-author label
-        if: ${{ steps.checkUserMember.outputs.isTeamMember == 'false' }}
+        if: ${{ steps.checkUserMember.outputs.isTeamMember == 'false'
+          && steps.extract_board_column.outputs.issue_board_column == 'Waiting for Author' }}
         uses: andymckay/labeler@3a4296e9dcdf9576b0456050db78cfd34853f260
         with:
           remove-labels: 'waiting-for-author, no-activity'
           repo-token: ${{ secrets.ORG_AUTOMATION_TOKEN }}
       - name: Move to waiting for engineering column
-        if: ${{ steps.checkUserMember.outputs.isTeamMember == 'false' }}
+        if: ${{ steps.checkUserMember.outputs.isTeamMember == 'false'
+          && steps.extract_board_column.outputs.issue_board_column == 'Waiting for Author' }}
         uses: leonsteinhaeuser/project-beta-automations@v2.0.0
         with:
           gh_token: ${{ secrets.ORG_AUTOMATION_TOKEN }}