diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 8fd763298f9..341314e6607 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ include:
   - ".gitlab/ci/manual_gate.yml"
   - ".gitlab/ci/upload_cache.yml"
   - ".gitlab/ci/pre_check.yml"
+  - ".gitlab/ci/pre_deploy.yml"
   - ".gitlab/ci/static-code-analysis.yml"
   - ".gitlab/ci/pre_commit.yml"
   - ".gitlab/ci/build.yml"
diff --git a/.gitlab/ci/common.yml b/.gitlab/ci/common.yml
index d3d30089c07..ef3c5b3d57a 100644
--- a/.gitlab/ci/common.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/ci/common.yml
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ stages:
   - target_test
   - host_test
   - test_deploy
+  - pre_deploy
   - deploy
   - post_deploy
 
diff --git a/.gitlab/ci/pre_check.yml b/.gitlab/ci/pre_check.yml
index 15166402113..10de92a397e 100644
--- a/.gitlab/ci/pre_check.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/ci/pre_check.yml
@@ -113,27 +113,6 @@ check_test_scripts_build_test_rules:
     # requires basic pytest dependencies
     - python tools/ci/check_build_test_rules.py check-test-scripts examples/ tools/test_apps components
 
-check_submodule_sync:
-  extends:
-    - .pre_check_template
-    - .rules:test:submodule
-  tags: [ brew, github_sync ]
-  retry: 2
-  variables:
-    GIT_STRATEGY: fetch  # use brew local mirror first
-    SUBMODULES_TO_FETCH: "none"
-    PUBLIC_IDF_URL: "https://github.com/espressif/esp-idf.git"
-  script:
-    - git submodule deinit --force .
-    - rm -rf .git/modules  # remove all the cached metadata
-    # setting the default remote URL to the public one, to resolve relative location URLs
-    - git config remote.origin.url ${PUBLIC_IDF_URL}
-    # check if all submodules are correctly synced to public repository
-    - git submodule init
-    - git config --get-regexp '^submodule\..*\.url$' || true
-    - git submodule update --recursive
-    - echo "IDF was cloned from ${PUBLIC_IDF_URL} completely"
-
 check_gitlab_yaml:
   extends:
     - .pre_check_template
diff --git a/.gitlab/ci/pre_deploy.yml b/.gitlab/ci/pre_deploy.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a1bdde91f42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitlab/ci/pre_deploy.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+.pre_deploy_template:
+  stage: pre_deploy
+  image: $ESP_ENV_IMAGE
+  dependencies: []
+
+check_submodule_sync:
+  extends:
+    - .pre_deploy_template
+    - .rules:test:submodule
+  tags: [ brew, github_sync ]
+  retry: 2
+  variables:
+    GIT_STRATEGY: fetch  # use brew local mirror first
+    SUBMODULES_TO_FETCH: "none"
+    PUBLIC_IDF_URL: "https://github.com/espressif/esp-idf.git"
+  script:
+    - git submodule deinit --force .
+    - rm -rf .git/modules  # remove all the cached metadata
+    # setting the default remote URL to the public one, to resolve relative location URLs
+    - git config remote.origin.url ${PUBLIC_IDF_URL}
+    # check if all submodules are correctly synced to public repository
+    - git submodule init
+    - git config --get-regexp '^submodule\..*\.url$' || true
+    - git submodule update --recursive
+    - echo "IDF was cloned from ${PUBLIC_IDF_URL} completely"