diff --git a/lib/gitlab/ci/build/policy/kubernetes.rb b/lib/gitlab/ci/build/policy/kubernetes.rb
index 5d2c116366579151b64f2763eebe209482255d86..782f6c4c0af28741b43fc7e7eef73fb0602c2638 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/ci/build/policy/kubernetes.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/ci/build/policy/kubernetes.rb
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ module Gitlab
             end
           end
 
-          def satisfied_by?(pipeline, _build = nil)
+          def satisfied_by?(pipeline, seed = nil)
             pipeline.has_kubernetes_active?
           end
         end
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/ci/build/policy/refs.rb b/lib/gitlab/ci/build/policy/refs.rb
index 9bee5ba43c007b790751fb4a3e0c119a87b35c3f..4aa5dc89f47aaf012a2d89b11bb22b2c5145f76b 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/ci/build/policy/refs.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/ci/build/policy/refs.rb
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ module Gitlab
             @patterns = Array(refs)
           end
 
-          def satisfied_by?(pipeline, _build = nil)
+          def satisfied_by?(pipeline, seed = nil)
             @patterns.any? do |pattern|
               pattern, path = pattern.split('@', 2)
 
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/ci/build/policy/specification.rb b/lib/gitlab/ci/build/policy/specification.rb
index 937d8504ef7bccbaf29721dc45939ba81c6906e1..f09ba42c074276f9e8ac8e12c5ab3ae5294613b2 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/ci/build/policy/specification.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/ci/build/policy/specification.rb
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ module Gitlab
             @spec = spec
           end
 
-          def satisfied_by?(pipeline, build = nil)
+          def satisfied_by?(pipeline, seed = nil)
             raise NotImplementedError
           end
         end
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/ci/build/policy/variables.rb b/lib/gitlab/ci/build/policy/variables.rb
index e5fec4469b39944616ac0158e9a5e892b58c5181..2c7d8aba43bd0baa7b7445fd1ce0e5037929b9bb 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/ci/build/policy/variables.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/ci/build/policy/variables.rb
@@ -7,9 +7,9 @@ module Gitlab
             @expressions = Array(expressions)
           end
 
-          def satisfied_by?(pipeline, build)
+          def satisfied_by?(pipeline, seed)
             variables = Gitlab::Ci::Variables::Collection
-              .new(build.simple_variables)
+              .new(seed.to_resource.simple_variables)
               .to_hash
 
             statements = @expressions.map do |statement|
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/ci/pipeline/seed/build.rb b/lib/gitlab/ci/pipeline/seed/build.rb
index 7cd7c864448dcad57b185590144d33f1c589fb63..dd2b277e5adf3001689a6ed84468e61b241cdc31 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/ci/pipeline/seed/build.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/ci/pipeline/seed/build.rb
@@ -11,21 +11,24 @@ module Gitlab
             @pipeline = pipeline
             @attributes = attributes
 
-            @only = attributes.delete(:only)
-            @except = attributes.delete(:except)
+            @only = Gitlab::Ci::Build::Policy
+              .fabricate(attributes.delete(:only))
+            @except = Gitlab::Ci::Build::Policy
+              .fabricate(attributes.delete(:except))
           end
 
+          # TODO, use pipeline.user ?
+          #
           def user=(current_user)
             @attributes.merge!(user: current_user)
           end
 
           def included?
+            # TODO specs for passing a seed object for lazy resource evaluation
+            #
             strong_memoize(:inclusion) do
-              only_specs = Gitlab::Ci::Build::Policy.fabricate(@only)
-              except_specs = Gitlab::Ci::Build::Policy.fabricate(@except)
-
-              only_specs.all? { |spec| spec.satisfied_by?(@pipeline) } &&
-                except_specs.none? { |spec| spec.satisfied_by?(@pipeline) }
+              @only.all? { |spec| spec.satisfied_by?(@pipeline, self) } &&
+                @except.none? { |spec| spec.satisfied_by?(@pipeline, self) }
             end
           end
 
diff --git a/spec/lib/gitlab/ci/yaml_processor_spec.rb b/spec/lib/gitlab/ci/yaml_processor_spec.rb
index e1cc826e0d906fc5c2636299ad17359d3f98380e..88d8fe2c661478dfea103ed6dadb5d3808ea511a 100644
--- a/spec/lib/gitlab/ci/yaml_processor_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/gitlab/ci/yaml_processor_spec.rb
@@ -182,22 +182,6 @@ module Gitlab
         it 'returns stages seed attributes' do
           expect(subject.stages_attributes).to eq attributes
         end
-
-        context 'when variables policy is specified' do
-          let(:config) do
-            YAML.dump(unit: { script: 'minitest', only: { variables: ['$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE'] } },
-                      feature: { script: 'spinach', only: { variables: ['$UNDEFINED'] } })
-          end
-
-          let(:pipeline) { create(:ci_empty_pipeline) }
-
-          it 'returns stage seeds only when variables expression is truthy' do
-            seeds = subject.stage_seeds(pipeline)
-
-            expect(seeds.size).to eq 1
-            expect(seeds.first.builds.dig(0, :name)).to eq 'unit'
-          end
-        end
       end
 
       describe 'only / except policies validations' do
diff --git a/spec/models/ci/pipeline_spec.rb b/spec/models/ci/pipeline_spec.rb
index 92f00cfbc1916943226fdf3490536cd38b8ce63f..dd94515b0a454d38e81074ec65ecdaa715ebf5bd 100644
--- a/spec/models/ci/pipeline_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/ci/pipeline_spec.rb
@@ -346,6 +346,20 @@ describe Ci::Pipeline, :mailer do
           end
         end
       end
+
+      context 'when variables policy is specified' do
+        let(:config) do
+          { unit: { script: 'minitest', only: { variables: ['$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE'] } },
+            feature: { script: 'spinach', only: { variables: ['$UNDEFINED'] } } }
+        end
+
+        it 'returns stage seeds only when variables expression is truthy' do
+          seeds = pipeline.stage_seeds
+
+          expect(seeds.size).to eq 1
+          expect(seeds.dig(0, 0, :name)).to eq 'unit'
+        end
+      end
     end
 
     describe '#seeds_size' do