diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 98e7a9cb..7edb8cc9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ name: container project - release build
 on:
   push:
     tags:
-      - "[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+"
+      - "[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+"
 
 jobs:
   build:
@@ -16,7 +16,9 @@ jobs:
       contents: read
       packages: read
       pages: write
+
   release:
+    if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
     name: Publish release
     timeout-minutes: 30
     needs: build
@@ -30,10 +32,18 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
         with:
           path: outputs
+
+      - name: Verify artifacts exist
+        run: |
+          echo "Checking for expected artifacts..."
+          ls -la outputs/container-package/
+          test -e outputs/container-package/*.zip || (echo "Missing .zip file!" && exit 1)
+          test -e outputs/container-package/*.pkg || (echo "Missing .pkg file!" && exit 1)
+
       - name: Create release
         uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
         with:
-          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          token: ${{ github.token }}
           name: ${{ github.ref_name }}-prerelease
           draft: true
           make_latest: false