diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d35199e..c560b10 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -81,11 +81,12 @@ Examples:
 
 ### 📥 Inputs
 
-| name      | description                                               | required | default  |
-| :---      | :---                                                      | :---     | :---     |
-| scheme    | The versioning scheme in-use, either `semver` or `calver` | No       | `semver` |
-| pep440    | Set to `true` for PEP440 compatibility of _pre-release_ versions by making use of the build metadata segment of semver, which maps to local version identifier in PEP440 | No | `false` |
-| increment | The digit to increment, either `major`, `minor` or `patch`, ignored if `scheme` == `calver` | No | `patch` |
+| name           | description                                                                                 | required | default  |
+| :---           | :---                                                                                        | :---     | :---     |
+| scheme         | The versioning scheme in-use, either `semver` or `calver`                                   | No       | `semver` |
+| pep440         | Set to `true` for PEP440 compatibility of _pre-release_ versions by making use of the build metadata segment of semver, which maps to local version identifier in PEP440 | No       | `false`  |
+| increment      | The digit to increment, either `major`, `minor` or `patch`, ignored if `scheme` == `calver` | No       | `patch`  |
+| release_branch | Specify a non-default branch to use for the release tag (the one without -pre)              | No       |          |
 
 ### 📤 Outputs
 
diff --git a/action.yml b/action.yml
index d280373..7b51a8f 100644
--- a/action.yml
+++ b/action.yml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ inputs:
     required: false
     default: 'patch'
   release_branch:
-    description: "Specify a non-main branch to use for the release tag (the one without -prerelease). If empty, will use the default branch for the repo."
+    description: 'Specify a non-default branch to use for the release tag (the one without -pre)'
     required: false
     type: string
 
diff --git a/tests/test_version-increment.bats b/tests/test_version-increment.bats
index e6c1481..f2da4d7 100644
--- a/tests/test_version-increment.bats
+++ b/tests/test_version-increment.bats
@@ -224,6 +224,22 @@ function init_repo {
     [[ "$output" = *"VERSION=1.2.4-pre.${short_ref}"* ]]
 }
 
+@test "does not append prerelease information if on a specified release_branch" {
+    init_repo
+
+    export current_version=1.2.3
+    export GITHUB_REF="refs/heads/releases"
+    export release_branch="releases"
+
+    run ../../version-increment.sh
+
+    print_run_info
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ] &&
+    [[ "$output" != *"PRE_RELEASE_LABEL=pre."* ]] &&
+    [[ "$output" != *"VERSION=1.2.4-pre."* ]] &&
+    [[ "$output" = *"VERSION=1.2.4"* ]]
+}
+
 @test "appends prerelease information in pep440 compatible way when pep440 is true" {
     init_repo
 
diff --git a/version-increment.sh b/version-increment.sh
index b128562..db956e6 100755
--- a/version-increment.sh
+++ b/version-increment.sh
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ if [[ -z "${BATS_VERSION:-}" ]] ; then
     default_branch="$(git remote show origin | ${grep} 'HEAD branch' | cut -d ' ' -f 5)"
 fi
 # use release_branch if not empty
-if [[ -n "${release_branch}" ]] ; then
+if [[ -n "${release_branch:-}" ]] ; then
     default_branch="${release_branch}" 
 fi