diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 0087b7ad2e8af374744bcfa88db29b0e6f6c8196..de6389e335374860b4c8a87f4f8dfecc060858f0 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -9,9 +9,14 @@
     - R -e 'devtools::install_deps(quiet = TRUE)'
     - R -e 'devtools::check(error_on = "note")'
 
-# latest version of the previous minor R release
-check-previous:
-  image: rocker/tidyverse:3.5.3
+# Earliest supported version as specified in DESCRIPTION
+check-3.5.0:
+  image: rocker/tidyverse:3.5.0
+  <<: *check_job_template
+
+# Last version before 4.0.0
+check-3.6.3:
+  image: rocker/tidyverse:3.6.3
   <<: *check_job_template
 
 # latest R release