diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 8bbc056b..93033421 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [7.2.3](https://github.com/nodejs/node-core-utils/compare/v7.2.2...v7.2.3) (2026-09-17)
+
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* start CI when the duplicate check cannot query Jenkins ([#1195](https://github.com/nodejs/node-core-utils/issues/1195)) ([a3dc22c](https://github.com/nodejs/node-core-utils/commit/a3dc22cc0451016033c66b08d95d2867db6b67e0))
+
 ## [7.2.2](https://github.com/nodejs/node-core-utils/compare/v7.2.1...v7.2.2) (2026-09-15)
 
 
diff --git a/lib/ci/run_ci.js b/lib/ci/run_ci.js
index 30331766..7963849f 100644
--- a/lib/ci/run_ci.js
+++ b/lib/ci/run_ci.js
@@ -94,10 +94,20 @@ export class RunPRJob {
     if (checkForDuplicates) {
       await this.prData.getComments();
       const { jobid, link } = new JobParser(this.prData.comments).parse().get('PR') ?? {};
-      const { actions } = jobid
-        ? (await new PRBuild(cli, request, jobid, undefined, 'actions[parameters[name,value]]')
-            .getBuildData())
-        : {};
+      let actions;
+      try {
+        ({ actions } = jobid
+          ? (await new PRBuild(cli, request, jobid, undefined, 'actions[parameters[name,value]]')
+              .getBuildData())
+          : {});
+      } catch (err) {
+        // Jenkins may no longer have the build (e.g. the record was lost) or
+        // may answer with an HTML error page instead of JSON. Do not let that
+        // block starting a new CI run.
+        cli.stopSpinner(`Could not query existing CI run ${link}: ${err.message}`,
+          cli.SPINNER_STATUS.WARN);
+        cli.warn('Skipping the duplicate CI check');
+      }
       const { parameters } = actions?.find(a => 'parameters' in a) ?? {};
       if (parameters?.find(c => c.name === 'COMMIT_SHA_CHECK')?.value === certifySafe) {
         cli.info('Existing CI run found: ' + link);
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 866823b5..21ca8023 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "@node-core/utils",
-  "version": "7.2.2",
+  "version": "7.2.3",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "@node-core/utils",
-      "version": "7.2.2",
+      "version": "7.2.3",
       "bundleDependencies": [
         "@inquirer/prompts",
         "@listr2/prompt-adapter-inquirer",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 627f4044..fb2c4326 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@node-core/utils",
-  "version": "7.2.2",
+  "version": "7.2.3",
   "description": "Utilities for Node.js core collaborators",
   "type": "module",
   "engines": {
diff --git a/test/unit/ci_start.test.js b/test/unit/ci_start.test.js
index b2199288..7266ec78 100644
--- a/test/unit/ci_start.test.js
+++ b/test/unit/ci_start.test.js
@@ -335,5 +335,33 @@ describe('Jenkins', () => {
       const jobRunner = new RunPRJob(cli, request, owner, repo, prid, 'deadbeef', true);
       assert.strictEqual(await jobRunner.start(), true);
     });
+    it('should start CI when the existing CI run cannot be queried', async() => {
+      const cli = new TestCLI();
+      const err = new SyntaxError('Unexpected token \'<\', "<!DOCTYPE " is not valid JSON');
+      sinon.replace(PRBuild.prototype, 'getBuildData', sinon.fake.rejects(err));
+
+      const request = {
+        gql: sinon.stub().returns({
+          repository: {
+            pullRequest: {
+              labels: {
+                nodes: []
+              }
+            }
+          }
+        }),
+        fetch: sinon.stub()
+          .callsFake((url, { method, headers, body }) => {
+            assert.strictEqual(url, CI_PR_URL);
+            assert.strictEqual(method, 'POST');
+            assert.deepStrictEqual(headers, { 'Jenkins-Crumb': crumb });
+            return Promise.resolve({ status: 201 });
+          }),
+        json: sinon.stub().withArgs(CI_CRUMB_URL).resolves({ crumb })
+      };
+      const jobRunner = new RunPRJob(cli, request, owner, repo, prid, 'deadbeef', true);
+      assert.strictEqual(await jobRunner.start(), true);
+      assert.strictEqual(request.fetch.callCount, 1);
+    });
   });
 });