diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index d50801bd207..82ba357b91a 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ task verifyVersions {
  * the enabled state of every bwc task. It should be set back to true
  * after the backport of the backcompat code is complete.
  */
-final boolean bwc_tests_enabled = true
+boolean bwc_tests_enabled = true
 final String bwc_tests_disabled_issue = "" /* place a PR link here when committing bwc changes */
 if (bwc_tests_enabled == false) {
   if (bwc_tests_disabled_issue.isEmpty()) {
@@ -170,6 +170,17 @@ if (bwc_tests_enabled == false) {
   println "See ${bwc_tests_disabled_issue}"
   println "==========================================================="
 }
+if (project.gradle.startParameter.taskNames.find { it.startsWith("checkPart") } != null) {
+  // Disable BWC tests for checkPart* tasks as it's expected that this will run un it's own check
+  bwc_tests_enabled = false
+}
+if (project.gradle.startParameter.taskNames.contains("bwcTestSnapshots") && bwc_tests_enabled == false) {
+  throw new GradleException("BWC tests are disabled. " +
+          "This can happen if a branch happened to be created when they were disabled and can be solved by mergin at" +
+          "least to the commit on the parent branch that re-enabled them"
+  )
+}
+
 subprojects {
   ext.bwc_tests_enabled = bwc_tests_enabled
 }