diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index cce391b65ed6c..84c40e7745106 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ jobs:
     if: |
       github.event_name == 'schedule' ||
       github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' ||
-      startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/v')
+      startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/')
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ jobs:
     if: |
       github.event_name == 'schedule' ||
       github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' ||
-      startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/v')
+      startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/')
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -75,13 +75,13 @@ jobs:
           node bin/npm-cli.js install -g $RUNNER_TEMP/npm-$NPM_VERSION.tgz
           node bin/npm-cli.js install -w smoke-tests --ignore-scripts --no-audit --no-fund
           rm -rf {lib,bin,index.js}
-          SMOKE_TEST_NPM=1 npm test -w smoke-tests --ignore-scripts
+          SMOKE_PUBLISH_NPM=1 npm test -w smoke-tests --ignore-scripts
           
   test-all:
     if: |
       github.event_name == 'schedule' ||
       github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' ||
-      startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/v')
+      startsWith(github.head_ref, 'release/')
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
diff --git a/smoke-tests/test/index.js b/smoke-tests/test/index.js
index 32a422a25bc12..e5b2b2024874e 100644
--- a/smoke-tests/test/index.js
+++ b/smoke-tests/test/index.js
@@ -6,13 +6,13 @@ const rimraf = require('rimraf')
 const which = require('which').sync
 const { start, stop, registry } = require('../lib/server.js')
 
-const { SMOKE_TEST_NPM, CI, PATH } = process.env
+const { SMOKE_PUBLISH_NPM, CI, PATH } = process.env
 const log = CI ? console.error : () => {}
 
 const cwd = resolve(__dirname, '..', '..')
 const npmCli = join('bin', 'npm-cli.js')
-const execArgv = SMOKE_TEST_NPM ? ['npm'] : [process.execPath, join(cwd, npmCli)]
-const npmDir = SMOKE_TEST_NPM ? realpathSync(which('npm')).replace(sep + npmCli, '') : cwd
+const execArgv = SMOKE_PUBLISH_NPM ? ['npm'] : [process.execPath, join(cwd, npmCli)]
+const npmDir = SMOKE_PUBLISH_NPM ? realpathSync(which('npm')).replace(sep + npmCli, '') : cwd
 
 const normalizePath = path => path.replace(/[A-Z]:/, '').replace(/\\/g, '/')
 
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ t.test('npm init', async t => {
 t.test('npm --version', async t => {
   const v = await exec('--version')
 
-  if (SMOKE_TEST_NPM) {
+  if (SMOKE_PUBLISH_NPM) {
     t.match(v.trim(), /-[0-9a-f]{40}\.\d$/, 'must have a git version')
   } else {
     t.skip('not checking version')