diff --git a/templates/gitlab-ci-maven.yml b/templates/gitlab-ci-maven.yml
index b2999600fc12e7f9f4249d56ded87512b7dbc961..b80e8a08ef5b440030061f8fe2da56435c9773d4 100644
--- a/templates/gitlab-ci-maven.yml
+++ b/templates/gitlab-ci-maven.yml
@@ -578,7 +578,7 @@ mvn-release:
     - log_info "Preparing Git repository for release..."
     - git config --global user.name $GITLAB_USER_ID
     - git config --global user.email $GITLAB_USER_EMAIL
-    - git checkout -B "$CI_BUILD_REF_NAME"
+    - git checkout -B "$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME"
   script:
     - configure_scm_auth
     - maybe_set_version_from_git