diff --git a/scripts/release.mjs b/scripts/release.mjs
index db8a3f0d2..c4c673490 100755
--- a/scripts/release.mjs
+++ b/scripts/release.mjs
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ async function main() {
   await build();
   await $({ stdout: 'inherit', stderr: 'inherit' })`auto shipit`;
 
-  if (process.env.GITHUB_REF === 'main') {
+  // https://github.blog/changelog/2023-09-13-github-actions-updates-to-github_ref-and-github-ref/
+  if (process.env.GITHUB_REF === 'refs/heads/main') {
     await publishAction('latest');
   } else {
     console.info('Skipping automatic publish of action-canary.');