diff --git a/debian/rules b/debian/rules
index 6dd311f4..e39dfe79 100755
--- a/debian/rules
+++ b/debian/rules
@@ -334,7 +334,7 @@ STAGE_ALL_CMAKE_EXTRA += -DMLIR_INSTALL_AGGREGATE_OBJECTS=OFF
 
 
 RUN_TEST=yes
-ifeq (,$(findstring nocheck,$(DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS)))
+ifneq (,$(filter nocheck,$(DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS)))
 	RUN_TEST=no
 endif
 ifeq ($(shell dpkg-vendor --derives-from Ubuntu && echo yes),yes)