diff --git a/.ci/versions_checker.sh b/.ci/versions_checker.sh
index 817f5001f6..d722d37b93 100755
--- a/.ci/versions_checker.sh
+++ b/.ci/versions_checker.sh
@@ -12,20 +12,29 @@
 # This ensures that the rest
 # of the components are merged before the runtime
 
-set -e
+set -o errexit
+set -o nounset
+set -o pipefail
+set -o errtrace
 
 GOPATH=${GOPATH:-${HOME}/go}
 
 PACKAGING_REPO="github.com/kata-containers/packaging"
 RUNTIME_REPO="github.com/kata-containers/runtime"
+KATA_BRANCH=${target_branch:-master}
 
 go get -d "${PACKAGING_REPO}" || true
 
-check_changes=$(git diff "${GOPATH}/src/${RUNTIME_REPO}/VERSION")
+if ! check_changes=$(git diff --name-only "origin/${KATA_BRANCH}" | grep VERSION); then
+	echo "No changes in VERSION file - this is not a bump - nothing to check"
+	exit 0
+fi
 version_to_check=$(cat "${GOPATH}/src/${RUNTIME_REPO}/VERSION")
 
 if [ ! -z "$check_changes" ]; then
+	echo "Changes detected on VERSION"
+	echo "Check versions in branch ${KATA_BRANCH}"
 	pushd "${GOPATH}/src/${PACKAGING_REPO}"
-	./release/tag_repos.sh pre-release "${version_to_check}" 
+	./release/tag_repos.sh -b "${KATA_BRANCH}" pre-release "${version_to_check}"
 	popd
 fi
diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 3b708b5386..b6d7660abf 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -24,7 +24,10 @@ env:
   - target_branch=$TRAVIS_BRANCH
 
 before_install:
+  - git remote set-branches --add origin "${TRAVIS_BRANCH}"
+  - git fetch
   - ".ci/setup.sh"
+  - ".ci/versions_checker.sh"
 
 before_script:
   - ".ci/install_go.sh"