diff --git a/bin/circle-dependencies-post b/bin/circle-dependencies-post
index 2a8e86aa..1defb749 100755
--- a/bin/circle-dependencies-post
+++ b/bin/circle-dependencies-post
@@ -28,9 +28,9 @@ source "$STATE"
 mkdir -p $(dirname $SRCDIR) && cp -r $(pwd)/ $SRCDIR
 
 if [ -n "$TEST_AND_PUBLISH" ] ; then
-    bin/setup-circleci-secrets "$SECRET_PASSWORD"
+    [ -z "$SECRET_PASSWORD" ] || bin/setup-circleci-secrets "$SECRET_PASSWORD"
     cd $SRCDIR; git submodule update --init
-    if [ "$CIRCLE_NODE_INDEX" = "0" ] ; then
+    if [ "$CIRCLE_NODE_INDEX" = "0" -a -n "$SECRET_PASSWORD" ] ; then
         cd $SRCDIR/test; ./gce.sh make_template
     fi
     cd $SRCDIR/build
diff --git a/bin/circle-test-pre b/bin/circle-test-pre
index cfd3949d..b3fa1446 100755
--- a/bin/circle-test-pre
+++ b/bin/circle-test-pre
@@ -10,5 +10,5 @@ if [ -n "$TEST_AND_PUBLISH" ] ; then
     make COVERAGE=true RM= all
 
     cd $SRCDIR/test
-    ./gce.sh setup && eval $(./gce.sh hosts) && ./setup.sh
+    [ -z "$SECRET_PASSWORD" ] || (./gce.sh setup && eval $(./gce.sh hosts) && ./setup.sh)
 fi
diff --git a/bin/circle-test-smoke b/bin/circle-test-smoke
index 709c21fa..6a7a3de5 100755
--- a/bin/circle-test-smoke
+++ b/bin/circle-test-smoke
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ set -e
 source "$STATE"
 
 if [ -n "$TEST_AND_PUBLISH" ] ; then
+    [ -n "$SECRET_PASSWORD" ] || echo "Cannot run smoke tests: no secret key" && exit 1
     cd $SRCDIR/test
     eval $(./gce.sh hosts)
     export COVERAGE=true
diff --git a/bin/circle-test-teardown b/bin/circle-test-teardown
index 44711219..7e7bafa2 100755
--- a/bin/circle-test-teardown
+++ b/bin/circle-test-teardown
@@ -6,6 +6,6 @@ source "$STATE"
 
 if [ -n "$TEST_AND_PUBLISH" ] ; then
     cd $SRCDIR/test
-    ./gce.sh destroy
+    [ -z "$SECRET_PASSWORD" ] || ./gce.sh destroy
     test "$CIRCLE_NODE_INDEX" != "0" || (cd $SRCDIR/test; ./gen_coverage_reports.sh)
 fi
diff --git a/circle.yml b/circle.yml
index 0870e542..e994239a 100644
--- a/circle.yml
+++ b/circle.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ general:
   branches:
     ignore:
       - gh\-pages
-      - /pull\/.*/
 
 machine:
   services: