diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index d6c41d492ba80d2cfa505f18f33352a1b37b2f35..4d3e61613ab71787c99469201d846254ae151f81 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@ test_docker:
 
 publish_get_version:
   stage: publish
+  rules:
+    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH
   script:
     - export VERSION=$(grep 'version <-' ascii_alignment_pileup.R | cut -f2 -d'"')
     - echo "VERSION=$VERSION" >> publish.env