diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 1776e7d1..cc6b587f 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -196,6 +196,6 @@ publish-crate:
   stage: publish
   extends: .kubernetes-env
   rules:
-    - if: $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME =~ /^v.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+.*$/ # i.e. v.1.0, v.2.1rc1
+    - if: $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME =~ /^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+.*$/ # i.e. v1.0, v2.1rc1
   script:
     - cargo publish -p parity-scale-codec