diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 11128550c13f95f382e37ce60407cb94de04fc21..7f96d1c65bdab4ea99376f7336e119baa13600ea 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ workflow:
     # This variable can be specified in manual or scheduled pipelines to run CI with the next Rails version.
     # Specifying BUNDLE_GEMFILE: Gemfile.next wouldn't work because QA jobs require
     # BUNDLE_GEMFILE to be Gemfile even with the next Rails version pipelines.
-    - if: '$RUN_WITH_NEXT_RAILS_VERSION'
+    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "rails-next" && $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "schedule"'
       variables:
         <<: *next-ruby-variables
         BUNDLE_GEMFILE: Gemfile.next
diff --git a/.gitlab/ci/rules.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab/ci/rules.gitlab-ci.yml
index 79a55b3d4d80a74a527306552710525a19439949..9e06dc88831204cfdf512b30e3e3af44a29cc944 100644
--- a/.gitlab/ci/rules.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/ci/rules.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
           || $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME =~ /^\d+-\d+-auto-deploy-\d+$/
           || $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME =~ /^security\//
           || $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME =~ /^ruby-next$/
+          || $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME =~ /^rails-next$/
         )
       )
       ||
@@ -216,6 +217,9 @@
 .if-ruby-branch: &if-ruby-branch
   if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "ruby-next" || (($CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event" && $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_EVENT_TYPE != "merge_train") && $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_LABELS =~ /pipeline:run-in-ruby\d+(_\d)*/)'
 
+.if-rails-next-branch: &if-rails-next-branch
+  if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "rails-next"'
+
 .if-observability-skip-e2e-jobs: &if-observability-skip-e2e-jobs
   if: '$SKIP_GITLAB_OBSERVABILITY_BACKEND_TRIGGER || $GITLAB_OBSERVABILITY_BACKEND_PIPELINE_TRIGGER_TOKEN == null || $GITLAB_OBSERVABILITY_BACKEND_TOKEN_FOR_CI_SCRIPTS == null'
 
@@ -1016,6 +1020,7 @@
     - <<: *if-merge-request-labels-pipeline-expedite
       when: never
     - <<: *if-ruby-branch
+    - <<: *if-rails-next-branch
     - <<: *if-force-ci
     - <<: *if-auto-deploy-branches
       variables:
@@ -1076,6 +1081,7 @@
     - <<: *if-merge-request-targeting-stable-branch
       changes: *setup-test-env-patterns
     - <<: *if-ruby-branch
+    - <<: *if-rails-next-branch
     # We include the job under the matching conditions below, but unlike in .qa:rules:e2e:test-on-gdk we don't need to
     # set OMNIBUS_GITLAB_BUILD_ON_ALL_OS when testing against GDK
     - <<: *if-merge-request
@@ -1282,6 +1288,7 @@
   rules:
     - <<: *if-auto-deploy-branches
     - <<: *if-ruby-branch
+    - <<: *if-rails-next-branch
     - <<: *if-force-ci
     - <<: *if-merge-request-labels-run-all-e2e
     - <<: *if-merge-request-labels-run-review-app
@@ -1650,6 +1657,7 @@
     - <<: *if-merge-request-labels-pipeline-expedite
       when: never
     - *if-ruby-branch
+    - *if-rails-next-branch
     - *if-merge-request-labels-run-all-e2e
     - <<: *if-merge-request-targeting-stable-branch
       changes: *setup-test-env-patterns
@@ -1703,6 +1711,7 @@
     - <<: *if-merge-request-targeting-stable-branch
       changes: *setup-test-env-patterns
     - <<: *if-ruby-branch
+    - <<: *if-rails-next-branch
     - <<: *if-force-ci
       when: manual
     - <<: *if-merge-request
diff --git a/spec/dot_gitlab_ci/ci_configuration_validation/branch_pipeline_spec.rb b/spec/dot_gitlab_ci/ci_configuration_validation/branch_pipeline_spec.rb
index 2d19b391e9ed57c14a084bb555ac88ecb7d7ee4b..822290d0fd2b551622e88f72440d94c67d44e428 100644
--- a/spec/dot_gitlab_ci/ci_configuration_validation/branch_pipeline_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/dot_gitlab_ci/ci_configuration_validation/branch_pipeline_spec.rb
@@ -58,6 +58,23 @@
       end
     end
 
+    context 'with gitlab.com gitlab-org/gitlab rails-next branch scheduled pipeline' do
+      let(:ci_commit_branch) { 'rails-next' }
+      let(:ci_pipeline_source) { 'schedule' }
+      let(:expected_job_name) { 'ruby_syntax: [${RUBY_VERSION_DEFAULT}]' }
+
+      before do
+        sync_local_files_to_project(
+          gitlab_org_gitlab_project,
+          user,
+          ci_commit_branch,
+          files: ci_glob_with_common_file_globs
+        )
+      end
+
+      it_behaves_like 'default branch pipeline'
+    end
+
     context 'with gitlab.com gitlab-org/gitlab ruby-next branch scheduled pipeline' do
       let(:ci_commit_branch) { 'ruby-next' }
       let(:ci_pipeline_source) { 'schedule' }