diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 5873ff9ae1496e1c7e7471a3d7632b0c783f22af..82e7776c377aace06274f24c95384e540fb433a0 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -7,12 +7,22 @@ variables:
 
 
 stages:
+  - validate
   - test
   - build-x86_64
   - build-aarch64
   - deploy
 
 
+validate-release:
+  stage: validate
+  rules:
+    - if: $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME == $RELEASE_BRANCH
+  image: ${IMAGE}
+  script:
+    - git tag --points-at HEAD | grep -q v
+
+
 test:
   stage: test
   rules: