diff --git a/scripts/cancel_pipelines.py b/scripts/cancel_pipelines.py
index acea143ee6fd2e0479be2b445214555d91223a26..b894b0df1608bb0046ff817669d8ae2cb0834a33 100755
--- a/scripts/cancel_pipelines.py
+++ b/scripts/cancel_pipelines.py
@@ -46,11 +46,11 @@ def cancel_pipelines(
     ref: str = "",
     below_pipeline_id: int = sys.maxsize,
 ) -> list[ProjectPipeline]:
-    """Cancel currently running pipelines.
+    """Cancel GitLab pipelines.
 
     Args:
         project: GitLab project the pipeline belongs to
-        ref: Git ref (branch or tag) the pipeline is running on
+        ref: Git ref (branch or tag) the pipeline belongs to
         below_pipeline_id: cancel only pipelines with ID below this
 
     Returns:
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ def cancel_pipelines(
     """
 
     pipelines = project.pipelines.list(
-        ref=ref, status="running", as_list=False, retry_transient_errors=True
+        ref=ref, as_list=False, retry_transient_errors=True
     )
 
     cancelled_pipelines = []
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ def main():
     cancelled_pipelines = cancel_pipelines(project, args.ref, args.below_pipeline_id)
 
     if not cancelled_pipelines:
-        print("No running pipelines found.")
+        print("No pipelines found.")
         sys.exit(0)
 
     print("Cancelled pipelines:")