diff --git a/application/config/ConfigManager.php b/application/config/ConfigManager.php
index 717a038f7..b98a746f9 100644
--- a/application/config/ConfigManager.php
+++ b/application/config/ConfigManager.php
@@ -372,7 +372,6 @@ protected function setDefaultValues()
         $this->setEmpty('general.tags_separator', ' ');
 
         $this->setEmpty('updates.check_updates', true);
-        $this->setEmpty('updates.check_updates_branch', 'latest');
         $this->setEmpty('updates.check_updates_interval', 86400);
 
         $this->setEmpty('feed.rss_permalinks', true);
diff --git a/application/front/controller/admin/ServerController.php b/application/front/controller/admin/ServerController.php
index 9be5ea772..8978b9764 100644
--- a/application/front/controller/admin/ServerController.php
+++ b/application/front/controller/admin/ServerController.php
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ public function index(Request $request, Response $response): Response
         }
 
         $currentVersion = ApplicationUtils::getVersion('./shaarli_version.php');
-        $currentVersion = $currentVersion === 'dev' ? $currentVersion : 'v' . $currentVersion;
+        $currentVersion = ApplicationUtils::isDevVersion($currentVersion) ? $currentVersion : 'v' . $currentVersion;
         $phpEol = new \DateTimeImmutable(ApplicationUtils::getPhpEol(PHP_VERSION));
 
         $permissions = array_merge(
diff --git a/application/helper/ApplicationUtils.php b/application/helper/ApplicationUtils.php
index d875f2b8c..6d13fa19f 100644
--- a/application/helper/ApplicationUtils.php
+++ b/application/helper/ApplicationUtils.php
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ class ApplicationUtils
 
     public static $GITHUB_URL = 'https://github.com/shaarli/Shaarli';
     public static $GIT_RAW_URL = 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/shaarli/Shaarli';
-    public static $GIT_BRANCHES = ['latest', 'stable'];
+    public static $RELEASE_BRANCH = 'release';
     private static $VERSION_START_TAG = '<?php /* ';
     private static $VERSION_END_TAG = ' */ ?>';
 
@@ -89,7 +89,6 @@ public static function getVersion($remote, $timeout = 2)
      * @param int    $checkInterval  the minimum interval between update checks (in seconds
      * @param bool   $enableCheck    whether to check for new versions
      * @param bool   $isLoggedIn     whether the user is logged in
-     * @param string $branch         check update for the given branch
      *
      * @throws Exception an invalid branch has been set for update checks
      *
@@ -100,13 +99,12 @@ public static function checkUpdate(
         $updateFile,
         $checkInterval,
         $enableCheck,
-        $isLoggedIn,
-        $branch = 'stable'
+        $isLoggedIn
     ) {
         // Do not check versions for visitors
         // Do not check if the user doesn't want to
         // Do not check with dev version
-        if (!$isLoggedIn || empty($enableCheck) || $currentVersion === 'dev') {
+        if (!$isLoggedIn || empty($enableCheck) || self::isDevVersion($currentVersion)) {
             return false;
         }
 
@@ -120,16 +118,10 @@ public static function checkUpdate(
             return false;
         }
 
-        if (!in_array($branch, self::$GIT_BRANCHES)) {
-            throw new Exception(
-                'Invalid branch selected for updates: "' . $branch . '"'
-            );
-        }
-
         // Late Static Binding allows overriding within tests
         // See http://php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.late-static-bindings.php
         $latestVersion = static::getVersion(
-            self::$GIT_RAW_URL . '/' . $branch . '/' . self::$VERSION_FILE
+            self::$GIT_RAW_URL . '/' . self::$RELEASE_BRANCH . '/' . self::$VERSION_FILE
         );
 
         if (!$latestVersion) {
@@ -189,11 +181,11 @@ public static function checkResourcePermissions(ConfigManager $conf, bool $minim
         // Check script and template directories are readable
         foreach (
             [
-            'application',
-            'inc',
-            'plugins',
-            $rainTplDir,
-            $rainTplDir . '/' . $conf->get('resource.theme'),
+                'application',
+                'inc',
+                'plugins',
+                $rainTplDir,
+                $rainTplDir . '/' . $conf->get('resource.theme'),
             ] as $path
         ) {
             if (!is_readable(realpath($path))) {
@@ -208,10 +200,10 @@ public static function checkResourcePermissions(ConfigManager $conf, bool $minim
             ];
         } else {
             $folders = [
-            $conf->get('resource.thumbnails_cache'),
-            $conf->get('resource.data_dir'),
-            $conf->get('resource.page_cache'),
-            $conf->get('resource.raintpl_tmp'),
+                $conf->get('resource.thumbnails_cache'),
+                $conf->get('resource.data_dir'),
+                $conf->get('resource.page_cache'),
+                $conf->get('resource.raintpl_tmp'),
             ];
         }
 
@@ -231,12 +223,12 @@ public static function checkResourcePermissions(ConfigManager $conf, bool $minim
         // Check configuration files are readable and writable
         foreach (
             [
-                 $conf->getConfigFileExt(),
-                 $conf->get('resource.datastore'),
-                 $conf->get('resource.ban_file'),
-                 $conf->get('resource.log'),
-                 $conf->get('resource.update_check'),
-             ] as $path
+                $conf->getConfigFileExt(),
+                $conf->get('resource.datastore'),
+                $conf->get('resource.ban_file'),
+                $conf->get('resource.log'),
+                $conf->get('resource.update_check'),
+            ] as $path
         ) {
             if (!is_string($path) || !is_file(realpath($path))) {
                 # the file may not exist yet
@@ -334,4 +326,11 @@ public static function getPhpEol(string $fullVersion): string
             '8.2' => '2025-12-08',
         ][$matches[1]] ?? (new \DateTime('+2 year'))->format('Y-m-d');
     }
+
+    public static function isDevVersion(string $version): bool
+    {
+        return strpos($version, 'dev') !== false
+            || preg_match('/[a-f0-9]{7}/', $version) === 1
+        ;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/application/render/PageBuilder.php b/application/render/PageBuilder.php
index bf0ae3263..3f9e550c5 100644
--- a/application/render/PageBuilder.php
+++ b/application/render/PageBuilder.php
@@ -103,8 +103,7 @@ private function initialize()
                 $this->conf->get('resource.update_check'),
                 $this->conf->get('updates.check_updates_interval'),
                 $this->conf->get('updates.check_updates'),
-                $this->isLoggedIn,
-                $this->conf->get('updates.check_updates_branch')
+                $this->isLoggedIn
             );
             $this->tpl->assign('newVersion', escape($version));
             $this->tpl->assign('versionError', '');
diff --git a/application/updater/Updater.php b/application/updater/Updater.php
index 11b6c0514..a9ea65621 100644
--- a/application/updater/Updater.php
+++ b/application/updater/Updater.php
@@ -172,6 +172,15 @@ public function updateMethodMigrateExistingNotesUrl(): bool
         return true;
     }
 
+    public function updateMethodRemoveSettingRemoteBranch(): bool
+    {
+        if ($this->conf->exists('updates.check_updates_branch')) {
+            $this->conf->remove('updates.check_updates_branch', true, true);
+        }
+
+        return true;
+    }
+
     public function setBasePath(string $basePath): self
     {
         $this->basePath = $basePath;
diff --git a/doc/md/Shaarli-configuration.md b/doc/md/Shaarli-configuration.md
index a7cfb2181..89206daf4 100644
--- a/doc/md/Shaarli-configuration.md
+++ b/doc/md/Shaarli-configuration.md
@@ -58,11 +58,9 @@ Some settings can be configured directly from a web browser by accesing the `Too
         "page_cache": "pagecache"
     },
     "general": {
-        "check_updates": true,
         "rss_permalinks": true,
         "links_per_page": 20,
         "default_private_links": true,
-        "check_updates_branch": "stable",
         "check_updates_interval": 86400,
         "download_max_size": 4194304,
         "download_timeout": 30,
@@ -88,7 +86,6 @@ Some settings can be configured directly from a web browser by accesing the `Too
     "formatter": "markdown",
     "updates": {
         "check_updates": true,
-        "check_updates_branch": "stable",
         "check_updates_interval": 86400
     },
     "feed": {
@@ -207,7 +204,6 @@ Must be an associative array: `translation domain => translation path`.
 ### Updates
 
 - **check_updates**: Enable or disable update check to the git repository.
-- **check_updates_branch**: Git branch used to check updates (e.g. `stable` or `master`).
 - **check_updates_interval**: Look for new version every N seconds (default: every day).
 
 ### Privacy
diff --git a/tests/helper/ApplicationUtilsTest.php b/tests/helper/ApplicationUtilsTest.php
index 1b4f82045..f23960ef8 100644
--- a/tests/helper/ApplicationUtilsTest.php
+++ b/tests/helper/ApplicationUtilsTest.php
@@ -142,17 +142,6 @@ public function testCheckUpdateNewVersionUnavailable()
         $this->assertFalse($version);
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Test update checks - invalid Git branch
-     */
-    public function testCheckUpdateInvalidGitBranch()
-    {
-        $this->expectException(\Exception::class);
-        $this->expectExceptionMessageRegExp('/Invalid branch selected for updates/');
-
-        ApplicationUtils::checkUpdate('', 'null', 0, true, true, 'unstable');
-    }
-
     /**
      * Shaarli is up-to-date
      */
@@ -379,6 +368,17 @@ public function testCheckUpdateDev()
         );
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Check update with a short git object name as curent version (Docker build).
+     * It should always return false.
+     */
+    public function testCheckUpdateDevHash()
+    {
+        $this->assertFalse(
+            ApplicationUtils::checkUpdate('abc123d', self::$testUpdateFile, 100, true, true)
+        );
+    }
+
     /**
      * Basic test of getPhpExtensionsRequirement()
      */
diff --git a/tests/utils/config/configJson.json.php b/tests/utils/config/configJson.json.php
index b04dc3039..d0b655988 100644
--- a/tests/utils/config/configJson.json.php
+++ b/tests/utils/config/configJson.json.php
@@ -63,7 +63,6 @@
     },
     "updates": {
         "check_updates": false,
-        "check_updates_branch": "stable",
         "check_updates_interval": 86400
     },
     "feed": {