Resolve "Merge request says "Could not connect to the CI server", no CI or integration is configured"

What does this MR do?

null-ref protection for data.pipeline

see https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/34130#note_54020077

Why was this MR needed?

~bug

Does this MR meet the acceptance criteria?

• Changelog entry added, if necessary
• Tests added for this feature/bug
• Review
  • Has been reviewed by Frontend
  • Has been reviewed by Backend
• Conform by the merge request performance guides
• Conform by the style guides
• Squashed related commits together
• Internationalization required/considered
• End-to-end tests pass (package-qa manual pipeline job)

What are the relevant issue numbers?

#34130 (closed)