diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 771c2f2e..963cfdbe 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -101,6 +101,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Create Pull Request
         run: gh pr create -B "$BASE" -H "release/$VERSION" --title "Release Pramen v$VERSION" --body 'Created by Github action'
         env:
-          BASE: ${{ github.event.inputs.branch }}
+          BASE: ${{ github.head_ref || github.ref_name }}
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           VERSION: ${{ steps.release_branch3.outputs.VERSION }}
diff --git a/pramen/core/src/main/scala/za/co/absa/pramen/core/runner/task/TaskRunnerBase.scala b/pramen/core/src/main/scala/za/co/absa/pramen/core/runner/task/TaskRunnerBase.scala
index 07ce3e55..831d205a 100644
--- a/pramen/core/src/main/scala/za/co/absa/pramen/core/runner/task/TaskRunnerBase.scala
+++ b/pramen/core/src/main/scala/za/co/absa/pramen/core/runner/task/TaskRunnerBase.scala
@@ -121,17 +121,18 @@ abstract class TaskRunnerBase(conf: Config,
   /** Runs a task in the single thread. Performs all task logging and notification sending activities. */
   protected def runTask(task: Task): RunStatus = {
     val started = Instant.now()
+
+    runtimeConfig.sparkAppDescriptionTemplate.foreach { template =>
+      val description = applyAppDescriptionTemplate(template, task, runtimeConfig, conf)
+      val spark = SparkSession.builder().getOrCreate()
+      spark.sparkContext.setJobDescription(description)
+    }
+
     task.job.operation.killMaxExecutionTimeSeconds match {
       case Some(timeout) if timeout > 0 =>
         @volatile var runStatus: RunStatus = null
 
         try {
-          runtimeConfig.sparkAppDescriptionTemplate.foreach { template =>
-            val description = applyAppDescriptionTemplate(template, task, runtimeConfig, conf)
-            val spark = SparkSession.builder().getOrCreate()
-            spark.sparkContext.setJobDescription(description)
-          }
-
           ThreadUtils.runWithTimeout(Duration(timeout, TimeUnit.SECONDS)) {
             log.info(s"Running ${task.job.name} with the hard timeout = $timeout seconds.")
             runStatus = doValidateAndRunTask(task)