diff --git a/.github/workflows/data-checks.yml b/.github/workflows/data-checks.yml
index 7533a11d..c19ae0b9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/data-checks.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/data-checks.yml
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ name: Data Checks
 on:
   pull_request:
     branches: [ main ]  # runs on any PR against main
+    paths:
+      - "data/**"
 jobs:
   data-pipeline:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest