diff --git a/EESSI-install-software.sh b/EESSI-install-software.sh
index a38a1c047a..60613fed6f 100755
--- a/EESSI-install-software.sh
+++ b/EESSI-install-software.sh
@@ -242,6 +242,11 @@ fi
 # order is important: these are needed to install a full CUDA SDK in host_injections
 # for now, this just reinstalls all scripts. Note the most elegant, but works
 
+# the install_scripts.sh script relies on knowing the location of the PR diff
+# assume there's only one diff file that corresponds to the PR patch file
+pr_diff=$(ls [0-9]*.diff | head -1)
+export PR_DIFF="$PWD/$pr_diff"
+
 # Only run install_scripts.sh if not in dev.eessi.io for security
 if [[ -z ${EESSI_DEV_PROJECT} ]]; then
     ${TOPDIR}/install_scripts.sh --prefix ${EESSI_PREFIX}
@@ -341,10 +346,6 @@ else
     echo_green ">> MODULEPATH set up: ${MODULEPATH}"
 fi
 
-# assume there's only one diff file that corresponds to the PR patch file
-pr_diff=$(ls [0-9]*.diff | head -1)
-
-
 # use PR patch file to determine in which easystack files stuff was added
 changed_easystacks=$(cat ${pr_diff} | grep '^+++' | cut -f2 -d' ' | sed 's@^[a-z]/@@g' | grep 'easystacks/.*yml$' | egrep -v 'known-issues|missing') 
 if [ -z "${changed_easystacks}" ]; then
diff --git a/install_scripts.sh b/install_scripts.sh
index c5a9a556c2..f4863686fc 100755
--- a/install_scripts.sh
+++ b/install_scripts.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,35 @@ display_help() {
   echo "  -h | --help            -  display this usage information"
 }
 
+file_changed_in_pr() {
+  local full_path="$1"
+
+  # Make sure file exists
+  [[ -f "$full_path" ]] || return 1
+
+  # Check if the file is in a Git repo (it should be) 
+  local repo_root
+  repo_root=$(git -C "$(dirname "$full_path")" rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null)
+  if [[ -z "$repo_root" ]]; then
+    return 2  # Not in a git repository
+  fi
+
+  # Compute relative path to the repo root
+  local rel_path
+  rel_path=$(realpath --relative-to="$repo_root" "$full_path")
+
+  # Check if the file changed in the PR diff file that we have
+  (
+    cd "$repo_root" || return 2
+    # $PR_DIFF should be set by the calling script
+    if [[ ! -z ${PR_DIFF} ]] && [[ -f "$PR_DIFF" ]]; then
+      grep -q "b/$rel_path" "$PR_DIFF" # Add b/ to match diff patterns
+    else
+      return 3
+    fi
+  ) && return 0 || return 1
+}
+
 compare_and_copy() {
     if [ "$#" -ne 2 ]; then
         echo "Usage of function: compare_and_copy <source_file> <destination_file>"
@@ -18,8 +47,20 @@ compare_and_copy() {
     destination_file="$2"
 
     if [ ! -f "$destination_file" ] || ! diff -q "$source_file" "$destination_file" ; then
-        cp "$source_file" "$destination_file"
-        echo "File $1 copied to $2"
+        echo "Files $source_file and $destination_file differ, checking if we should copy or not"
+        # We only copy if the file is part of the PR
+        if file_changed_in_pr "$source_file"; then
+          echo "File has changed in the PR"
+          cp "$source_file" "$destination_file"
+          echo "File $source_file copied to $destination_file"
+        else
+          case $? in
+            1) echo "❌ File has NOT changed in PR" ;;
+            2) echo "🚫 Not in Git repository" ;;
+            3) echo "🚫 No PR diff file found" ;;
+            *) echo "⚠️ Unknown error" ;;
+          esac
+        fi
     else
         echo "Files $1 and $2 are identical. No copy needed."
     fi