diff --git a/main-basop.yml b/main-basop.yml
index fda6a3fae70f41d66d8d642dec2868c1c0765c8c..ab046b675409c5d4c9a0cf33e274ee66927d93ae 100644
--- a/main-basop.yml
+++ b/main-basop.yml
@@ -811,8 +811,7 @@ fail-pipeline-if-in-draft:
     - echo "Your MR is still in Draft state, set it to ready to be mergable, then retrigger the pipeline."
     - exit 1
 
-# TODO: decide how to handle this after merge back to main
-.check-naming-of-branch-for-basop-update-merges:
+check-float-ref-companion-branch-exists-for-porting-merge-requests:
   extends:
     - .rules-merge-request-to-main
     - .job-linux
@@ -820,10 +819,11 @@ fail-pipeline-if-in-draft:
   tags:
     - ivas-basop-linux
   script:
-    - bash "${CI_PROJECT_DIR}"/ivas-codec-ci/snippets/basop/update-scripts-repo.sh
-    - if [[ ! "$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TITLE" =~ \[skip[[:space:]_-]name[[:space:]_-]check\] ]] && [[ ! "$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TITLE" =~ \[CI\] ]]; then
-    -   bash "${CI_PROJECT_DIR}"/ivas-codec-ci/snippets/basop/get-float-ref-branch-name.sh $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_SOURCE_BRANCH_NAME
-    - fi
+  # we need to source the script here so that the correct exit code is returned from the global job shell and the "allow_failure" recognizes it
+  - source "${CI_PROJECT_DIR}"/ivas-codec-ci/snippets/basop/check-float-ref-companion-branch-exists-for-porting-merge-requests.sh
+  allow_failure:
+    exit_codes:
+      - 123
 
 # This job runs in MR pipelines and checks if your branch is up-to-date with your target
 # If it is not, it fails the whole pipeline early (this should be the first job to run)
diff --git a/snippets/basop/branch-follows-porting-naming-convention.sh b/snippets/basop/branch-follows-porting-naming-convention.sh
index 962c2315b15f292d84357828e79a597c2bf87108..a3811b0ba2c92fcf793fc57bd7e313a2cf2bae58 100644
--- a/snippets/basop/branch-follows-porting-naming-convention.sh
+++ b/snippets/basop/branch-follows-porting-naming-convention.sh
@@ -28,10 +28,12 @@
 # accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany excluding its conflict of law rules and
 # the United Nations Convention on Contracts on the International Sales of Goods.
 
+set -euo pipefail
+
 BASOP_PATTERN="^[0-9]+[_-]basop[_-].*"
 MSG_DOES_NOT_MATCH="Your branch name %s does not match the template '<issue_number>_basop_<description>', e.g. '123_basop_fix_this_one_bug-2'.
 If this branch is porting a float MR with a corresponding float part, then
-ticking to this branch is needed for the testing system to match this branch with its float-reference counterpart.
+sticking to this naming convention is needed for the testing system to match this branch with its float-reference counterpart.
 Please rename your branch. You can easily do this by creating a new branch from this branch:
   - git checkout -b <new branch name here>
 You then also need to create a new merge request and update the links in your issue.
@@ -49,3 +51,5 @@ if ! [[ "$1" =~ $BASOP_PATTERN ]]; then
   printf "$MSG_DOES_NOT_MATCH" "$1"
   exit 1
 fi
+
+exit 0
diff --git a/snippets/basop/check-float-ref-companion-branch-exists-for-porting-merge-requests.sh b/snippets/basop/check-float-ref-companion-branch-exists-for-porting-merge-requests.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9ed3ae846c3851819d5b5483593c51c50284bb6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/snippets/basop/check-float-ref-companion-branch-exists-for-porting-merge-requests.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# (C) 2022-2025 IVAS codec Public Collaboration with portions copyright Dolby International AB, Ericsson AB,
+# Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., Huawei Technologies Co. LTD.,
+# Koninklijke Philips N.V., Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Nokia Technologies Oy, Orange,
+# Panasonic Holdings Corporation, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., VoiceAge Corporation, and other
+# contributors to this repository. All Rights Reserved.
+#
+# This software is protected by copyright law and by international treaties.
+# The IVAS codec Public Collaboration consisting of Dolby International AB, Ericsson AB,
+# Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., Huawei Technologies Co. LTD.,
+# Koninklijke Philips N.V., Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Nokia Technologies Oy, Orange,
+# Panasonic Holdings Corporation, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., VoiceAge Corporation, and other
+# contributors to this repository retain full ownership rights in their respective contributions in
+# the software. This notice grants no license of any kind, including but not limited to patent
+# license, nor is any license granted by implication, estoppel or otherwise.
+#
+# Contributors are required to enter into the IVAS codec Public Collaboration agreement before making
+# contributions.
+#
+# This software is provided "AS IS", without any express or implied warranties. The software is in the
+# development stage. It is intended exclusively for experts who have experience with such software and
+# solely for the purpose of inspection. All implied warranties of non-infringement, merchantability
+# and fitness for a particular purpose are hereby disclaimed and excluded.
+#
+# Any dispute, controversy or claim arising under or in relation to providing this software shall be
+# submitted to and settled by the final, binding jurisdiction of the courts of Munich, Germany in
+# accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany excluding its conflict of law rules and
+# the United Nations Convention on Contracts on the International Sales of Goods.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+MSG_NO_FLOAT_REF_BRANCH_FOUND="Your branch name %s looks like it is a porting MR, but there is no corresponding float merge request (%s).
+If this is intended (nothing to port to ivas-float-update), simply ignore this warning.
+If there should be a float ref branch for this MR, please check your spelling on your other branch and make sure that you pushed it.\n
+"
+
+exit_code_is_porting_mr=0
+bash "${CI_PROJECT_DIR}"/ivas-codec-ci/snippets/basop/branch-follows-porting-naming-convention.sh "$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME" || exit_code_is_porting_mr=$?
+
+# if this does not look like a porting branch, finish with success here - no need to check for a float companion
+if [ "$exit_code_is_porting_mr" == "1" ]; then
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+# if this does indeed look like a porting branch, get the float companion branch - if that is ivas-float-update, then warn about possible typo/missing branch
+float_ref_branchname=$(${CI_PROJECT_DIR}/ivas-codec-ci/snippets/basop/get-float-ref-branch-name.sh $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME)
+if [ "$float_ref_branchname" == "ivas-float-update" ]; then
+  expected_float_ref_branch="${CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME/basop/ref}"
+  printf "$MSG_NO_FLOAT_REF_BRANCH_FOUND" "$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME" "$expected_float_ref_branch"
+  exit 123
+fi
+
+exit 0
diff --git a/snippets/basop/get-float-ref-branch-name.sh b/snippets/basop/get-float-ref-branch-name.sh
index 4e768aa3d4a6d35957a367f2dd68ad4b5d0fbf1c..b1c20988bde549a9dcfde9d348acaa77a8677d6b 100755
--- a/snippets/basop/get-float-ref-branch-name.sh
+++ b/snippets/basop/get-float-ref-branch-name.sh
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 # NOTE: this does not check e.g. for float_ref_branchname actually existing and will silently return ivas-float-update if not
 #       Use branch-follows-porting-naming-convention.sh for that
 
-set -euxo pipefail
+set -euo pipefail
 
 if [ $# -ne 1 ]; then
   echo "Usage: $0 <branchname>"