diff --git a/.github/scripts/check_skip_ci.sh b/.github/scripts/check_skip_ci.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..64ef618267
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/scripts/check_skip_ci.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Copyright (c) HashiCorp, Inc.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Get the list of changed files
+# Using `git merge-base` ensures that we're always comparing against the correct branch point.
+#For example, given the commits:
+#
+# A---B---C---D---W---X---Y---Z # origin/main
+#             \---E---F         # feature/branch
+#
+# ... `git merge-base origin/$SKIP_CHECK_BRANCH HEAD` would return commit `D`
+# `...HEAD` specifies from the common ancestor to the latest commit on the current branch (HEAD)..
+files_to_check=$(git diff --name-only "$(git merge-base origin/$SKIP_CHECK_BRANCH HEAD~)"...HEAD)
+
+# Define the directories to check
+skipped_directories=("assets" ".changelog/")
+
+# Loop through the changed files and find directories/files outside the skipped ones
+files_to_check_array=($files_to_check)
+for file_to_check in "${files_to_check_array[@]}"; do
+	file_is_skipped=false
+	echo "checking file: $file_to_check"
+
+	# Allow changes to:
+	# - This script
+	# - Files in the skipped directories
+	# - Markdown files
+	for dir in "${skipped_directories[@]}"; do
+		if [[ "$file_to_check" == */check_skip_ci.sh ]] ||
+		   [[ "$file_to_check" == "$dir"* ]] ||
+		   [[ "$file_to_check" == *.md ]]; then
+			file_is_skipped=true
+			break
+		fi
+	done
+
+	if [ "$file_is_skipped" != "true" ]; then
+		echo -e "non-skippable file changed: $file_to_check"
+        SKIP_CI=false
+		echo "Changes detected in non-documentation files - will not skip tests and build"
+        echo "skip-ci=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+		exit 0 ## if file is outside of the skipped_directory exit script
+	fi
+done
+
+echo "Changes detected in only documentation files - skipping tests and build"
+echo "skip-ci=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index 99038bef56..8df906c4c6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -17,10 +17,19 @@ env:
   PKG_NAME: "consul-k8s"
 
 jobs:
+  conditional-skip:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/reusable-conditional-skip.yml
+
   get-go-version:
+    # Cascades down to test jobs
+    needs: [ conditional-skip ]
+    if: needs.conditional-skip.outputs.skip-ci != 'true'
     uses: ./.github/workflows/reusable-get-go-version.yml
 
   get-product-version:
+    # Cascades down to test jobs
+    needs: [ conditional-skip ]
+    if: needs.conditional-skip.outputs.skip-ci != 'true'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     outputs:
       product-version: ${{ steps.get-product-version.outputs.product-version }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr.yml b/.github/workflows/pr.yml
index 5b2540cb7d..736c1ad0f0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr.yml
@@ -10,8 +10,13 @@ env:
   SHA: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha || github.sha }}
 
 jobs:
+  conditional-skip:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/reusable-conditional-skip.yml
+
   test:
     name: test
+    needs: [ conditional-skip ]
+    if: needs.conditional-skip.outputs.skip-ci != 'true'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
     - uses: benc-uk/workflow-dispatch@25b02cc069be46d637e8fe2f1e8484008e9e9609 # v1.2.3
diff --git a/.github/workflows/reusable-conditional-skip.yml b/.github/workflows/reusable-conditional-skip.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ef469ee9aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/reusable-conditional-skip.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+name: conditional-skip
+
+on:
+  workflow_call:
+    outputs:
+      skip-ci:
+        description: "Whether we should skip build and test jobs"
+        value: ${{ jobs.check-skip.outputs.skip-ci }}
+
+jobs:
+  check-skip:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    name: Check whether to skip build and tests
+    outputs:
+      skip-ci: ${{ steps.check-changed-files.outputs.skip-ci }}
+    env:
+      SKIP_CHECK_BRANCH: ${{ github.head_ref || github.ref_name }}
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@0ad4b8fadaa221de15dcec353f45205ec38ea70b # v4.1.4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      - name: Check changed files
+        id: check-changed-files
+        run: ./.github/scripts/check_skip_ci.sh
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/security-scan.yml b/.github/workflows/security-scan.yml
index 9f1d3f4af9..120b564301 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/security-scan.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/security-scan.yml
@@ -16,7 +16,13 @@ concurrency:
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 jobs:
+  conditional-skip:
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/reusable-conditional-skip.yml
+
   get-go-version:
+    # Cascades down to test jobs
+    needs: [ conditional-skip ]
+    if: needs.conditional-skip.outputs.skip-ci != 'true'
     uses: ./.github/workflows/reusable-get-go-version.yml
 
   scan: