diff --git a/hack/verify-publishing-bot.py b/hack/verify-publishing-bot.py
index b2cf19e0adb..dc8c3d791d1 100755
--- a/hack/verify-publishing-bot.py
+++ b/hack/verify-publishing-bot.py
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ def get_gomod_dependencies(rootdir, components):
                 for dep in components:
                     if dep == component:
                         continue
-                    if ("k8s.io/" + dep + " v0.0.0") not in line:
+                    if ("k8s.io/" + dep + " =>") not in line:
                         continue
                     print("\t"+dep)
                     if dep not in all_dependencies[component]:
@@ -80,10 +80,12 @@ def main():
         if rule["destination"] not in gomod_dependencies:
             raise Exception("missing go.mod for %s" % rule["destination"])
         processed_repos.append(rule["destination"])
+        processed_deps = []
         for dep in set(gomod_dependencies[rule["destination"]]):
             found = False
             if "dependencies" in branch:
                 for dep2 in branch["dependencies"]:
+                    processed_deps.append(dep2["repository"])
                     if dep2["branch"] != "master":
                         raise Exception("Looking for master branch and found : %s for destination", dep2,
                                         rule["destination"])
@@ -96,6 +98,9 @@ def main():
                 raise Exception("Please add %s as a dependency under destination %s in %s" % (dep, rule["destination"], rules_file))
             else:
                 print("  found dependency %s" % dep)
+        extraDeps = set(processed_deps) - set(gomod_dependencies[rule["destination"]])
+        if len(extraDeps) > 0:
+            raise Exception("extra dependencies in rules for %s: %s" % (rule["destination"], ','.join(str(s) for s in extraDeps)))
     items = set(gomod_dependencies.keys()) - set(processed_repos)
     if len(items) > 0:
         raise Exception("missing rules for %s" % ','.join(str(s) for s in items))
diff --git a/staging/publishing/rules.yaml b/staging/publishing/rules.yaml
index 572129a478c..dab1c1c8275 100644
--- a/staging/publishing/rules.yaml
+++ b/staging/publishing/rules.yaml
@@ -216,8 +216,6 @@ rules:
       branch: master
     - repository: code-generator
       branch: master
-    - repository: component-base
-      branch: master
     required-packages:
     - k8s.io/code-generator
   - source:
@@ -234,8 +232,6 @@ rules:
       branch: release-12.0
     - repository: code-generator
       branch: release-1.15
-    - repository: component-base
-      branch: release-1.15
     required-packages:
     - k8s.io/code-generator
   smoke-test: |
@@ -354,8 +350,6 @@ rules:
       branch: master
     - repository: client-go
       branch: master
-    - repository: component-base
-      branch: master
   - source:
       branch: release-1.15
       dir: staging/src/k8s.io/sample-cli-plugin
@@ -370,8 +364,6 @@ rules:
       branch: release-1.15
     - repository: client-go
       branch: release-12.0
-    - repository: component-base
-      branch: release-1.15
 - destination: kube-proxy
   library: true
   branches:
@@ -406,8 +398,6 @@ rules:
       branch: master
     - repository: api
       branch: master
-    - repository: component-base
-      branch: master
   - source:
       branch: release-1.15
       dir: staging/src/k8s.io/kubelet
@@ -418,8 +408,6 @@ rules:
       branch: release-1.15
     - repository: api
       branch: release-1.15
-    - repository: component-base
-      branch: release-1.15
 - destination: kube-scheduler
   library: true
   branches:
@@ -430,8 +418,6 @@ rules:
     dependencies:
     - repository: apimachinery
       branch: master
-    - repository: apiserver
-      branch: master
     - repository: component-base
       branch: master
   - source:
@@ -442,8 +428,6 @@ rules:
     dependencies:
     - repository: apimachinery
       branch: release-1.15
-    - repository: apiserver
-      branch: release-1.15
     - repository: component-base
       branch: release-1.15
 - destination: kube-controller-manager
@@ -456,8 +440,6 @@ rules:
     dependencies:
     - repository: apimachinery
       branch: master
-    - repository: apiserver
-      branch: master
     - repository: component-base
       branch: master
   - source:
@@ -468,8 +450,6 @@ rules:
     dependencies:
     - repository: apimachinery
       branch: release-1.15
-    - repository: apiserver
-      branch: release-1.15
     - repository: component-base
       branch: release-1.15
 - destination: cluster-bootstrap
@@ -532,6 +512,8 @@ rules:
       branch: master
     - repository: apimachinery
       branch: master
+    - repository: client-go
+      branch: master
     - repository: cloud-provider
       branch: master
   - source:
@@ -544,6 +526,8 @@ rules:
       branch: release-1.15
     - repository: apimachinery
       branch: release-1.15
+    - repository: client-go
+      branch: release-12.0
     - repository: cloud-provider
       branch: release-1.15
 - destination: legacy-cloud-providers
@@ -630,6 +614,8 @@ rules:
       dir: staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl
     name: master
     dependencies:
+      - repository: api
+        branch: master
       - repository: apimachinery
         branch: master
       - repository: client-go
@@ -640,6 +626,8 @@ rules:
     name: release-1.15
     go: 1.12.5
     dependencies:
+      - repository: api
+        branch: release-1.15
       - repository: apimachinery
         branch: release-1.15
       - repository: client-go