diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 9afc147a22e..ee98e27458f 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -119,6 +119,13 @@ default:
   - .gitlab/cgroup-info.sh
   - gitlab_section_end "cgroup-info"
 
+.gitlab_base_ref_params: &gitlab_base_ref_params
+  - |
+    if [[ ! $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH =~ ^(master|release/.*)$ ]]; then
+      export GIT_BASE_REF=$(.gitlab/find-gh-base-ref.sh)
+      export GRADLE_PARAMS="$GRADLE_PARAMS -PgitBaseRef=origin/$GIT_BASE_REF"
+    fi
+
 .gradle_build: &gradle_build
   image: ghcr.io/datadog/dd-trace-java-docker-build:${BUILDER_IMAGE_VERSION_PREFIX}base
   stage: build
@@ -223,7 +230,8 @@ build_tests:
         MAVEN_OPTS: "-Xms64M -Xmx512M -Dorg.slf4j.simpleLogger.defaultLogLevel=debug" # FIXME: Build :smokeTest build fails unless mvn debug logging is on
 
   script:
-    - ./gradlew clean $GRADLE_TARGET -PskipTests $GRADLE_ARGS
+    - *gitlab_base_ref_params
+    - ./gradlew clean $GRADLE_TARGET $GRADLE_PARAMS -PskipTests $GRADLE_ARGS
 
 populate_dep_cache:
   extends: build_tests
@@ -327,7 +335,8 @@ test_published_artifacts:
   variables:
     CACHE_TYPE: lib
   script:
-    - ./gradlew $GRADLE_TARGET -PskipTests -PrunBuildSrcTests -PskipSpotless -PtaskPartitionCount=$NORMALIZED_NODE_TOTAL -PtaskPartition=$NORMALIZED_NODE_INDEX $GRADLE_ARGS
+    - *gitlab_base_ref_params
+    - ./gradlew $GRADLE_TARGET $GRADLE_PARAMS -PskipTests -PrunBuildSrcTests -PskipSpotless -PtaskPartitionCount=$NORMALIZED_NODE_TOTAL -PtaskPartition=$NORMALIZED_NODE_INDEX $GRADLE_ARGS
   after_script:
     - *cgroup_info
     - source .gitlab/gitlab-utils.sh
@@ -460,6 +469,7 @@ muzzle-dep-report:
     - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "master"
       when: on_success
   script:
+    - *gitlab_base_ref_params
     - >
       if [ "$PROFILE_TESTS" == "true" ] && [ "$testJvm" != "ibm8" ] && [ "$testJvm" != "oracle8" ];
       then
diff --git a/.gitlab/find-gh-base-ref.sh b/.gitlab/find-gh-base-ref.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..2e20a4ea31c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitlab/find-gh-base-ref.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Determines the base branch for the current PR (if we are running in a PR).
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Happy path: if we're just one commit away from master, base ref is master.
+if [[ $(git log --pretty=oneline origin/master..HEAD | wc -l) -eq 1 ]]; then
+  echo "We are just one commit away from master, base ref is master" >&2
+  echo "master"
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+# In GitLab: we have no reference to the base branch or even the PR number.
+# We have to find it from the current branch name, which is defined in
+# CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME.
+if [[ -z "${CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME}" ]]; then
+  echo "CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME is not set, not running in GitLab CI?" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [[ -z "${GITHUB_TOKEN:-}" ]]; then
+  echo "GITHUB_TOKEN is not set, fetching from AWS SSM" >&2
+  if ! command -v aws >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "aws is not installed, please install it" >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  GITHUB_TOKEN=$(aws ssm get-parameter --name "ci.$CI_PROJECT_NAME.gh_release_token" --with-decryption --query "Parameter.Value" --output text)
+  if [[ -z "${GITHUB_TOKEN}" ]]; then
+    echo "Failed to fetch GITHUB_TOKEN from AWS SSM" >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  export GITHUB_TOKEN
+fi
+
+if ! command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  echo "curl is not installed, please install it" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if ! command -v jq >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  echo "jq is not installed, please install it" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+while true; do
+  set +e
+  PR_DATA=$(curl \
+    -XGET \
+    --silent \
+    --include \
+    --fail-with-body \
+    -H 'Accept: application/vnd.github+json' \
+    -H "Authorization: Bearer ${GITHUB_TOKEN}" \
+    -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \
+    "https://api.github.com/repos/datadog/dd-trace-java/pulls?head=DataDog:${CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME}&sort=updated&direction=desc")
+  exit_code=$?
+  set -e
+  if [[ ${exit_code} -eq 0 ]]; then
+    PR_NUMBER=$(echo "$PR_DATA" | sed '1,/^[[:space:]]*$/d' | jq -r '.[].number')
+    PR_BASE_REF=$(echo "$PR_DATA" | sed '1,/^[[:space:]]*$/d' | jq -r '.[].base.ref')
+    echo "PR is https://github.com/datadog/dd-trace-java/pull/${PR_NUMBER} and base ref is ${PR_BASE_REF}">&2
+    echo "${PR_BASE_REF}"
+    exit 0
+  fi
+  if echo "$PR_DATA" | grep -q "^x-ratelimit-reset:"; then
+    reset_timestamp=$(echo -n "$PR_DATA" | grep "^x-ratelimit-reset:" | sed -e 's/^x-ratelimit-reset: //' -e 's/\r//')
+    now=$(date +%s)
+    sleep_time=$((reset_timestamp - now + 1))
+    echo "GitHub rate limit exceeded, sleeping for ${sleep_time} seconds" >&2
+    sleep "${sleep_time}"
+    continue
+  fi
+  echo -e "GitHub request failed for an unknown reason:\n$(echo "$PR_DATA" | sed '/^$/q')" >&2
+  echo "Assuming base ref is master" >&2
+  echo "master"
+  exit 0
+done