diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index f72c18d2f..ad0813010 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ jobs:
           prefix: crossbeam(-[a-z]+)?
           changelog: $prefix/CHANGELOG.md
           title: $prefix $version
-          branch: master
+          branch: v0.8
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
         if: "!startsWith(github.ref_name, 'crossbeam-0')"
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ jobs:
           prefix: crossbeam(-[a-z]+)?
           changelog: CHANGELOG.md
           title: crossbeam $version
-          branch: master
+          branch: v0.8
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
         if: startsWith(github.ref_name, 'crossbeam-0')
diff --git a/tools/publish.sh b/tools/publish.sh
index df3047e9f..f5f08d972 100755
--- a/tools/publish.sh
+++ b/tools/publish.sh
@@ -33,8 +33,8 @@ if gh release view "${tag}" &>/dev/null; then
     bail "tag '${tag}' has already been created and pushed"
 fi
 
-if ! git branch | grep -q '\* master'; then
-    bail "current branch is not 'master'"
+if ! git branch | grep -q '\* v0.8'; then
+    bail "current branch is not 'v0.8'"
 fi
 
 git tag "${tag}"