diff --git a/.github/workflows/bot-lint-comment.yml b/.github/workflows/bot-lint-comment.yml
index 6dc9c2c8de63d..3cc0788787862 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/bot-lint-comment.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/bot-lint-comment.yml
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ jobs:
         run: mkdir -p "$ARTIFACTS_DIR"
 
       - name: Download artifact
+        continue-on-error: true
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v8
         with:
           name: lint-log
diff --git a/.github/workflows/lint.yml b/.github/workflows/lint.yml
index 725b1da30fe76..4a6600f777a7b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/lint.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/lint.yml
@@ -34,16 +34,16 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           pip install -r build_tools/github/lint_lock.txt
           # we save the versions of the linters to be used in the error message later.
-          python -c "from importlib.metadata import version; print(f\"pytest={version('pytest')}\")" >> /tmp/versions.txt
-          python -c "from importlib.metadata import version; print(f\"ruff={version('ruff')}\")" >> /tmp/versions.txt
-          python -c "from importlib.metadata import version; print(f\"pyrefly={version('pyrefly')}\")" >> /tmp/versions.txt
-          python -c "from importlib.metadata import version; print(f\"cython-lint={version('cython-lint')}\")" >> /tmp/versions.txt
-
-      - name: Run linting
-        run: |
-          set +e
-          ./build_tools/linting.sh &> /tmp/linting_output.txt
-          cat /tmp/linting_output.txt
+          # python -c "from importlib.metadata import version; print(f\"pytest={version('pytest')}\")" >> /tmp/versions.txt
+          # python -c "from importlib.metadata import version; print(f\"ruff={version('ruff')}\")" >> /tmp/versions.txt
+          # python -c "from importlib.metadata import version; print(f\"pyrefly={version('pyrefly')}\")" >> /tmp/versions.txt
+          # python -c "from importlib.metadata import version; print(f\"cython-lint={version('cython-lint')}\")" >> /tmp/versions.txt
+
+      # - name: Run linting
+      #   run: |
+      #     set +e
+      #     ./build_tools/linting.sh &> /tmp/linting_output.txt
+      #     cat /tmp/linting_output.txt
 
       - name: Upload Artifact
         if: always()
diff --git a/build_tools/get_comment.py b/build_tools/get_comment.py
index 43226c5dbd3ad..cfcb35fd9bc15 100644
--- a/build_tools/get_comment.py
+++ b/build_tools/get_comment.py
@@ -20,8 +20,11 @@ def get_versions(versions_file):
     versions : dict
         A dictionary with the versions of the packages.
     """
-    with open(versions_file, "r") as f:
-        return dict(line.strip().split("=") for line in f)
+    try:
+        with open(versions_file, "r") as f:
+            return dict(line.strip().split("=") for line in f)
+    except FileNotFoundError:
+        return {}
 
 
 def get_step_message(log, start, end, title, message, details):
@@ -67,9 +70,6 @@ def get_step_message(log, start, end, title, message, details):
 
 
 def get_message(log_file, repo_str, pr_number, sha, run_id, details, versions):
-    with open(log_file, "r") as f:
-        log = f.read()
-
     sub_text = (
         "\n\n<sub> _Generated for commit:"
         f" [{sha[:7]}](https://github.com/{repo_str}/pull/{pr_number}/commits/{sha}). "
@@ -77,13 +77,21 @@ def get_message(log_file, repo_str, pr_number, sha, run_id, details, versions):
         f"(https://github.com/{repo_str}/actions/runs/{run_id})_ </sub>"
     )
 
+    # If the log file wasn't created due to some earlier failure in the linting step, we
+    # still want to return the generic message below.
+    try:
+        with open(log_file, "r") as f:
+            log = f.read()
+    except FileNotFoundError:
+        log = ""
+
     if "### Linting completed ###" not in log:
         return (
             "## ❌ Linting issues\n\n"
             "There was an issue running the linter job. Please update with "
             "`upstream/main` ([link]("
             "https://scikit-learn.org/dev/developers/contributing.html"
-            "#how-to-contribute)) and push the changes. If you already have done "
+            "#development-workflow)) and push the changes. If you already have done "
             "that, please send an empty commit with `git commit --allow-empty` "
             "and push the changes to trigger the CI.\n\n" + sub_text
         )