diff --git a/plugins/auto_merge/checks/has_assignee.go b/plugins/auto_merge/checks/has_assignee.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..58a45ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/auto_merge/checks/has_assignee.go
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+package checks
+
+import (
+	"github.com/GEPROG/lassie-bot-dog/plugins/auto_merge/config"
+	"github.com/xanzy/go-gitlab"
+)
+
+type HasAssignee struct {
+}
+
+func (check HasAssignee) Check(_ *config.AutoMergeConfig, _ *gitlab.Project, mergeRequest *gitlab.MergeRequest) bool {
+	return mergeRequest.Assignee != nil
+}
+
+func (check HasAssignee) Name() string {
+	return "has-assignee"
+}
+
+func (check HasAssignee) PassedText(_ int) string {
+	return "Someone is assigned to your Merge-Request"
+}
+
+func (check HasAssignee) FailedText(_ int) string {
+	return "No one is assigned to your Merge-Request"
+}
diff --git a/plugins/auto_merge/checks/has_enough_approvals.go b/plugins/auto_merge/checks/has_enough_approvals.go
index 665976c..f7d2088 100644
--- a/plugins/auto_merge/checks/has_enough_approvals.go
+++ b/plugins/auto_merge/checks/has_enough_approvals.go
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ func (check HasEnoughApprovalsCheck) Check(config *config.AutoMergeConfig, proje
 		}
 
 		// get amount of users that need to approve and already approved
-		approvedBy := len(check.getApprovals(approvals.ApprovedBy, neededApproval.Users))
+		approvedBy := len(check.getApprovals(approvals.ApprovedBy, neededApproval.Users, mergeRequest.Assignee))
 		atLeast := utils.Max(neededApproval.AtLeast, 1)
 
 		if approvedBy < atLeast {
@@ -64,11 +64,11 @@ func (check HasEnoughApprovalsCheck) FailedText(mergeRequestID int) string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("You still need some review for your changes %s", missingLabels)
 }
 
-func (check HasEnoughApprovalsCheck) getApprovals(approvedByAll []*gitlab.MergeRequestApproverUser, possibleApprovers []string) []string {
+func (check HasEnoughApprovalsCheck) getApprovals(approvedByAll []*gitlab.MergeRequestApproverUser, possibleApprovers []string, assignee *gitlab.BasicUser) []string {
 	var approvedBy []string
 
 	for _, approver := range approvedByAll {
-		if utils.StringInSlice(approver.User.Username, possibleApprovers) {
+		if utils.StringInSlice(approver.User.Username, possibleApprovers) && (assignee == nil || approver.User.Username != assignee.Username) {
 			approvedBy = append(approvedBy, approver.User.Username)
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/plugins/auto_merge/merge_checks.go b/plugins/auto_merge/merge_checks.go
index 94c84ad..b91bc5e 100644
--- a/plugins/auto_merge/merge_checks.go
+++ b/plugins/auto_merge/merge_checks.go
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ func (plugin AutoMergePlugin) setupMergeChecks() {
 		checks.HasNoConflictsCheck{},
 		checks.HasNoOpenDiscussionsCheck{Client: plugin.Client},
 		checks.IsNotWorkInProgressCheck{},
+		checks.HasAssignee{},
 		checks.PassesCICheck{
 			Client: plugin.Client,
 		},