diff --git a/airbyte-ci/connectors/auto_merge/src/auto_merge/main.py b/airbyte-ci/connectors/auto_merge/src/auto_merge/main.py
index 1a384f096480..a5c8e08ba578 100644
--- a/airbyte-ci/connectors/auto_merge/src/auto_merge/main.py
+++ b/airbyte-ci/connectors/auto_merge/src/auto_merge/main.py
@@ -67,6 +67,8 @@ def merge_with_retries(pr: PullRequest, max_retries: int = 3, wait_time: int = 6
         max_retries (int, optional): The maximum number of retries. Defaults to 3.
         wait_time (int, optional): The time to wait between retries in seconds. Defaults to 60.
     """
+    logger.error("Intentionally failing auto-merge -- testing that new feature works!")
+    return None
     for i in range(max_retries):
         try:
             pr.merge(merge_method=MERGE_METHOD)