diff --git a/src/ci/azure-pipelines/pr.yml b/src/ci/azure-pipelines/pr.yml
index 62e23efe1ef16..566e654fdb3f0 100644
--- a/src/ci/azure-pipelines/pr.yml
+++ b/src/ci/azure-pipelines/pr.yml
@@ -22,14 +22,6 @@ jobs:
         IMAGE: x86_64-gnu-llvm-6.0
       mingw-check:
         IMAGE: mingw-check
-
-- job: LinuxTools
-  timeoutInMinutes: 600
-  pool:
-    vmImage: ubuntu-16.04
-  steps:
-    - template: steps/run.yml
-      parameters:
-        only_on_updated_submodules: 'yes'
-  variables:
-    IMAGE: x86_64-gnu-tools
+      x86_64-gnu-tools:
+        IMAGE: x86_64-gnu-tools
+        CI_ONLY_WHEN_SUBMODULES_CHANGED: 1
diff --git a/src/ci/azure-pipelines/steps/run.yml b/src/ci/azure-pipelines/steps/run.yml
index 01858cca50b1c..b8e32cf2cdfe3 100644
--- a/src/ci/azure-pipelines/steps/run.yml
+++ b/src/ci/azure-pipelines/steps/run.yml
@@ -6,11 +6,6 @@
 #
 # Check travis config for `gdb --batch` command to print all crash logs
 
-parameters:
-  # When this parameter is set to anything other than an empty string the tests
-  # will only be executed when the commit updates submodules
-  only_on_updated_submodules: ''
-
 steps:
 
 # Disable automatic line ending conversion, which is enabled by default on
@@ -26,21 +21,8 @@ steps:
 - checkout: self
   fetchDepth: 2
 
-# Set the SKIP_JOB environment variable if this job is supposed to only run
-# when submodules are updated and they were not. The following time consuming
-# tasks will be skipped when the environment variable is present.
-- ${{ if parameters.only_on_updated_submodules }}:
-  - bash: |
-      set -e
-      # Submodules pseudo-files inside git have the 160000 permissions, so when
-      # those files are present in the diff a submodule was updated.
-      if git diff HEAD^ | grep "^index .* 160000" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-          echo "Executing the job since submodules are updated"
-      else
-          echo "Not executing this job since no submodules were updated"
-          echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=SKIP_JOB;]1"
-      fi
-    displayName: Decide whether to run this job
+- bash: src/ci/scripts/should-skip-this.sh
+  displayName: Decide whether to run this job
 
 # Spawn a background process to collect CPU usage statistics which we'll upload
 # at the end of the build. See the comments in the script here for more
diff --git a/src/ci/scripts/should-skip-this.sh b/src/ci/scripts/should-skip-this.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000..f945db0ada27d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ci/scripts/should-skip-this.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Set the SKIP_JOB environment variable if this job is supposed to only run
+# when submodules are updated and they were not. The following time consuming
+# tasks will be skipped when the environment variable is present.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+IFS=$'\n\t'
+
+source "$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)/../shared.sh"
+
+if [[ -z "${CI_ONLY_WHEN_SUBMODULES_CHANGED+x}" ]]; then
+    echo "Executing the job since there is no skip rule in effect"
+elif git diff HEAD^ | grep --quiet "^index .* 160000"; then
+    # Submodules pseudo-files inside git have the 160000 permissions, so when
+    # those files are present in the diff a submodule was updated.
+    echo "Executing the job since submodules are updated"
+else
+    echo "Not executing this job since no submodules were updated"
+    ciCommandSetEnv SKIP_JOB 1
+fi