diff --git a/.mergify.yml b/.mergify.yml
index ada29c596..235af3028 100644
--- a/.mergify.yml
+++ b/.mergify.yml
@@ -35,8 +35,9 @@ pull_request_rules:
       merge:
         method: rebase
         rebase_fallback: merge
-        strict: smart
         bot_account: ceph-csi-bot
+        strict: smart
+        strict_method: rebase
       dismiss_reviews: {}
       delete_head_branch: {}
   - name: automatic merge PR having ready-to-merge label
@@ -58,8 +59,9 @@ pull_request_rules:
       merge:
         method: rebase
         rebase_fallback: merge
-        strict: smart
         bot_account: ceph-csi-bot
+        strict: smart
+        strict_method: rebase
       dismiss_reviews: {}
       delete_head_branch: {}
   - name: backport patches to release v1.2.0 branch
@@ -83,8 +85,9 @@ pull_request_rules:
       merge:
         method: rebase
         rebase_fallback: merge
-        strict: smart
         bot_account: ceph-csi-bot
+        strict: smart
+        strict_method: rebase
       dismiss_reviews: {}
       delete_head_branch: {}
   - name: backport patches to release-v2.0 branch
@@ -108,8 +111,9 @@ pull_request_rules:
       merge:
         method: rebase
         rebase_fallback: merge
-        strict: smart
         bot_account: ceph-csi-bot
+        strict: smart
+        strict_method: rebase
       dismiss_reviews: {}
       delete_head_branch: {}
   - name: backport patches to release-v2.1 branch
@@ -133,8 +137,9 @@ pull_request_rules:
       merge:
         method: rebase
         rebase_fallback: merge
-        strict: smart
         bot_account: ceph-csi-bot
+        strict: smart
+        strict_method: rebase
       dismiss_reviews: {}
       delete_head_branch: {}
   - name: backport patches to release-v3.0 branch
@@ -158,8 +163,9 @@ pull_request_rules:
       merge:
         method: rebase
         rebase_fallback: merge
-        strict: smart
         bot_account: ceph-csi-bot
+        strict: smart
+        strict_method: rebase
       dismiss_reviews: {}
       delete_head_branch: {}
   - name: backport patches to release-v3.1 branch
@@ -191,6 +197,7 @@ pull_request_rules:
       merge:
         method: rebase
         rebase_fallback: merge
+        bot_account: ceph-csi-bot
         strict: smart
         strict_method: rebase
       dismiss_reviews: {}
@@ -216,8 +223,9 @@ pull_request_rules:
       merge:
         method: rebase
         rebase_fallback: merge
-        strict: smart
         bot_account: ceph-csi-bot
+        strict: smart
+        strict_method: rebase
       dismiss_reviews: {}
       delete_head_branch: {}
   - name: automatic merge PR having ready-to-merge label on ci/centos
@@ -235,7 +243,8 @@ pull_request_rules:
       merge:
         method: rebase
         rebase_fallback: merge
-        strict: smart
         bot_account: ceph-csi-bot
+        strict: smart
+        strict_method: rebase
       dismiss_reviews: {}
       delete_head_branch: {}