diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 54f292881f74cfb8868a59827f9bf49f688daa60..1210b9963ef7616dc6ba191498f1ae5019b71c06 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ stages:
       when: never
     - if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH != "master"'
       when: never
-    - if: "$CI_COMMIT_MESSAGE =~ /^#release/"
+    - if: "$CI_COMMIT_MESSAGE =~ /#release/"
       when: always
     - when: never