diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index daa6fa3e7..ec1a1813c 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ addons:
 
 before_install:
   - echo "are changes related to source code?"
-  - test "${FORCE_NIGHTLY_UPLOAD}" = "yes" || bash $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/util/checkchanges.sh || travis_terminate 0;
+  - test "${FORCE_NIGHTLY_UPLOAD}" = "yes" || test "$TRAVIS_BRANCH" = "release" || bash $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR/util/checkchanges.sh || travis_terminate 0;
   - |
     if [ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "osx" ]; then
         brew update;