diff --git a/.gitlab/ci/yaml/_rules.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab/ci/yaml/_rules.gitlab-ci.yml
index dad1b586fba9596bf1627bfe5050f0cd0f4a10d8..5f16d3579413f20223457610acf54f8e23e583e2 100644
--- a/.gitlab/ci/yaml/_rules.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/ci/yaml/_rules.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
   - <<: *if-merge-request-pipeline
   - <<: *if-canonical-default-branch
   - <<: *if-canonical-stable-release-ref
+  - <<: *if-canonical-rc-release-ref
 
 .rules:merge-requests:prepare:ci-image:
   rules:
@@ -52,7 +53,6 @@
   - <<: *if-not-canonical-namespace
     when: never
   - <<: *if-canonical-default-branch
-  - <<: *if-canonical-rc-release-ref
 
 .rules:release:rc:
   rules: