diff --git a/.changeset/soft-readers-move.md b/.changeset/soft-readers-move.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6440f0e49f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/soft-readers-move.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab': patch
+---
+
+Making publish:gitlab:merge-request idempotent.
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabMergeRequest.examples.test.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabMergeRequest.examples.test.ts
index e6aea81285..2f14412b84 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabMergeRequest.examples.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabMergeRequest.examples.test.ts
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ const mockGitlabClient = {
     create: jest.fn(),
   },
   Commits: {
-    create: jest.fn(),
+    create: jest.fn(() => ({ id: 'mockId' })),
   },
   MergeRequests: {
     create: jest.fn(async (_: any) => {
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabMergeRequest.test.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabMergeRequest.test.ts
index 08194b52cc..662a84b077 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabMergeRequest.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabMergeRequest.test.ts
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ const mockGitlabClient = {
     }),
   },
   Commits: {
-    create: jest.fn(),
+    create: jest.fn(() => ({ id: 'mockId' })),
   },
   MergeRequests: {
     create: jest.fn(async (repoId: string) => {
@@ -287,7 +287,10 @@ describe('createGitLabMergeRequest', () => {
           irrelevant: { 'bar.txt': 'Nothing to see here' },
         },
       });
-      const ctx = createMockActionContext({ input, workspacePath });
+      const ctx = createMockActionContext({
+        input,
+        workspacePath,
+      });
       await instance.handler(ctx);
 
       expect(mockGitlabClient.Projects.show).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabMergeRequest.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabMergeRequest.ts
index 26f7eff4ce..89ae1bddf2 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabMergeRequest.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabMergeRequest.ts
@@ -21,12 +21,12 @@ import {
   serializeDirectoryContents,
 } from '@backstage/plugin-scaffolder-node';
 import {
+  Camelize,
+  CommitAction,
+  ExpandedMergeRequestSchema,
   Gitlab,
   RepositoryTreeSchema,
-  CommitAction,
   SimpleUserSchema,
-  ExpandedMergeRequestSchema,
-  Camelize,
 } from '@gitbeaker/rest';
 import path from 'path';
 import { ScmIntegrationRegistry } from '@backstage/integration';
@@ -302,7 +302,7 @@ which uses additional API calls in order to detect whether to 'create', 'update'
         repoUrl,
       });
 
-      let assigneeId = undefined;
+      let assigneeId: number | undefined = undefined;
 
       if (assignee !== undefined) {
         try {
@@ -439,74 +439,100 @@ which uses additional API calls in order to detect whether to 'create', 'update'
           );
         }
       }
-      if (actions.length) {
-        try {
-          await api.Commits.create(repoID, branchName, title, actions);
-        } catch (e) {
-          throw new InputError(
-            `Committing the changes to ${branchName} failed. Please check that none of the files created by the template already exists. ${getErrorMessage(
-              e,
-            )}`,
-          );
-        }
-      }
-      try {
-        let mergeRequest = await api.MergeRequests.create(
-          repoID,
-          branchName,
-          String(targetBranch),
-          title,
-          {
-            description,
-            removeSourceBranch: removeSourceBranch ? removeSourceBranch : false,
-            assigneeId,
-            reviewerIds,
-          },
-        );
-
-        if (ctx.input.assignReviewersFromApprovalRules) {
-          try {
-            const reviewersFromApprovalRules =
-              await getReviewersFromApprovalRules(
-                api,
-                mergeRequest.iid,
+      await ctx.checkpoint({
+        key: `commit.to.${repoID}.${branchName}`,
+        fn: async () => {
+          if (actions.length) {
+            try {
+              const commit = await api.Commits.create(
                 repoID,
-                ctx,
+                branchName,
+                title,
+                actions,
               );
-            if (reviewersFromApprovalRules.length > 0) {
-              const eligibleUserIds = new Set([
-                ...reviewersFromApprovalRules,
-                ...(reviewerIds ?? []),
-              ]);
-
-              mergeRequest = await api.MergeRequests.edit(
-                repoID,
-                mergeRequest.iid,
-                {
-                  reviewerIds: Array.from(eligibleUserIds),
-                },
+              return commit.id;
+            } catch (e) {
+              throw new InputError(
+                `Committing the changes to ${branchName} failed. Please check that none of the files created by the template already exists. ${getErrorMessage(
+                  e,
+                )}`,
               );
             }
+          }
+          return null;
+        },
+      });
+
+      const { mrId, mrWebUrl } = await ctx.checkpoint({
+        key: `create.mr.${repoID}.${branchName}`,
+        fn: async () => {
+          try {
+            const mergeRequest = await api.MergeRequests.create(
+              repoID,
+              branchName,
+              String(targetBranch),
+              title,
+              {
+                description,
+                removeSourceBranch: removeSourceBranch
+                  ? removeSourceBranch
+                  : false,
+                assigneeId,
+                reviewerIds,
+              },
+            );
+            return {
+              mrId: mergeRequest.iid,
+              mrWebUrl: mergeRequest.web_url ?? mergeRequest.webUrl,
+            };
           } catch (e) {
-            ctx.logger.warn(
-              `Failed to assign reviewers from approval rules: ${getErrorMessage(
-                e,
-              )}.`,
+            throw new InputError(
+              `Merge request creation failed. ${getErrorMessage(e)}`,
             );
           }
-        }
-        ctx.output('projectid', repoID);
-        ctx.output('targetBranchName', targetBranch);
-        ctx.output('projectPath', repoID);
-        ctx.output(
-          'mergeRequestUrl',
-          mergeRequest.web_url ?? mergeRequest.webUrl,
-        );
-      } catch (e) {
-        throw new InputError(
-          `Merge request creation failed. ${getErrorMessage(e)}`,
-        );
-      }
+        },
+      });
+
+      await ctx.checkpoint({
+        key: `create.mr.assign.reviewers.${repoID}.${branchName}`,
+        fn: async () => {
+          if (ctx.input.assignReviewersFromApprovalRules) {
+            try {
+              const reviewersFromApprovalRules =
+                await getReviewersFromApprovalRules(api, mrId, repoID, ctx);
+              if (reviewersFromApprovalRules.length > 0) {
+                const eligibleUserIds = new Set([
+                  ...reviewersFromApprovalRules,
+                  ...(reviewerIds ?? []),
+                ]);
+
+                const mergeRequest = await api.MergeRequests.edit(
+                  repoID,
+                  mrId,
+                  {
+                    reviewerIds: Array.from(eligibleUserIds),
+                  },
+                );
+                return {
+                  mrWebUrl: mergeRequest.web_url ?? mergeRequest.webUrl,
+                };
+              }
+            } catch (e) {
+              ctx.logger.warn(
+                `Failed to assign reviewers from approval rules: ${getErrorMessage(
+                  e,
+                )}.`,
+              );
+            }
+          }
+          return { mrWebUrl };
+        },
+      });
+
+      ctx.output('projectid', repoID);
+      ctx.output('targetBranchName', targetBranch);
+      ctx.output('projectPath', repoID);
+      ctx.output('mergeRequestUrl', mrWebUrl);
     },
   });
 };