diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index e25aad26..5c0d1b8a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ jobs:
     name: Deploy release
     environment: staging
 #     only trigger the workflow on the base repository and if the merged branch name starts with release.
-    if: (github.repository_owner == 'RHEcosystemAppEng' && startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/')) || (github.repository_owner == 'RHEcosystemAppEng' && github.ref_name == 'main' && contains(github.event.commits[0].message, 'release/directly'))
+    if: (github.repository_owner == 'RHEcosystemAppEng' && github.event.pull_request.merged == true && startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/') ) || (github.repository_owner == 'RHEcosystemAppEng' && github.ref_name == 'main' && contains(github.event.commits[0].message, 'release/directly'))
     outputs:
       project_version: ${{ steps.project.outputs.version }}
       last_release_tag: ${{ steps.last-release.outputs.tag-name }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/stage.yml b/.github/workflows/stage.yml
index 99b7eb4c..eab90f7b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/stage.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/stage.yml
@@ -2,13 +2,15 @@
 name: Stage
 
 on:
-  workflow_dispatch:
-  push:
+  pull_request_target:
+    types:
+      - closed
     branches:
       - main
     paths:
       - "src/main/**"
       - "pom.xml"
+      - ".github/workflows/**"
 
 jobs:
   deploy:
@@ -16,7 +18,7 @@ jobs:
     name: Deploy snapshot
     env:
       RUN_PYTHON_BIN: ${{ vars.RUN_PYTHON_BIN }}
-    if: github.repository_owner == 'RHEcosystemAppEng'
+    if: github.repository_owner == 'RHEcosystemAppEng' && github.event.pull_request.merged == true &&  !startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/')
     outputs:
       project_version: ${{ steps.project.outputs.version }}
     steps:
@@ -50,7 +52,7 @@ jobs:
     needs: deploy
     if: |
       contains(needs.deploy.outputs.project_version, 'SNAPSHOT') &&
-      github.repository_owner == 'RHEcosystemAppEng'
+      github.repository_owner == 'RHEcosystemAppEng' && github.event.pull_request.merged == true &&  !startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/')
     steps:
       - name: Check for existing ${{ needs.deploy.outputs.project_version }} release
         id: existing_release