diff --git a/src/main/java/com/dabsquared/gitlabjenkins/trigger/handler/merge/MergeRequestHookTriggerHandlerImpl.java b/src/main/java/com/dabsquared/gitlabjenkins/trigger/handler/merge/MergeRequestHookTriggerHandlerImpl.java
index cf71f2399..19ce4fcc6 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/dabsquared/gitlabjenkins/trigger/handler/merge/MergeRequestHookTriggerHandlerImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/dabsquared/gitlabjenkins/trigger/handler/merge/MergeRequestHookTriggerHandlerImpl.java
@@ -258,6 +258,11 @@ private String getTargetBranchFromBuild(Run<?, ?> mergeBuild) {
         return cause == null ? null : cause.getData().getTargetBranch();
     }
 
+    private String getTargetMergeRequestStateFromBuild(Run<?, ?> mergeBuild) {
+        GitLabWebHookCause cause = mergeBuild.getCause(GitLabWebHookCause.class);
+        return cause == null ? null : cause.getData().getMergeRequestState();
+    }
+
 	private boolean isAllowedByConfig(MergeRequestObjectAttributes objectAttributes) {
 		return triggerConfig.apply(objectAttributes);
     }