diff --git a/.appveyor.yml b/.appveyor.yml
index 8d8d48ad17a1..e9d977b47f8c 100644
--- a/.appveyor.yml
+++ b/.appveyor.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@
 # https://github.com/rmcgibbo/python-appveyor-conda-example
 
 # Backslashes in quotes need to be escaped: \ -> "\\"
+branches:
+  except:
+    - /auto-backport-.*/
 
 environment: