diff --git a/geant/gap_ansible/roles/base_config/tasks/merge_variables.yaml b/geant/gap_ansible/roles/base_config/tasks/merge_variables.yaml
index 47b9b91b4dcdf50f8f6091100049b6b3abe44660..fd244bc36e7b5b5b376d8ff1148a2e603c5e7130 100644
--- a/geant/gap_ansible/roles/base_config/tasks/merge_variables.yaml
+++ b/geant/gap_ansible/roles/base_config/tasks/merge_variables.yaml
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
     cpm_filters: "{{ lookup('community.general.merge_variables', 'cpmf__to_merge', pattern_type='suffix') }}"
 
 - name: Prepare PE-specific vars
-  when: promote_to_pe | ansible.builtin.bool  # FIX: check the exact verb / keyword
+  when: verb == "deploy_pe_base_config"
   block:
     - name: Merge Nokia PE CPM filters
       ansible.builtin.set_fact: