diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index c0c506b7..72c5f577 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -17,13 +17,13 @@ on:
   push:
     branches:
       - master
-      - v4-hotfix
     paths-ignore:
       - README.md
       - README_TEMPLATE.md
-      - gradle.properties
       - CHANGELOG.md
 
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
 env:
   VERSION_FILE: gradle.properties
   VERSION_EXTRACT_PATTERN: '(?<=version=).+'
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          ref: 'master'
+          fetch-depth: 0
 
       - name: Set up JDK 1.8
         uses: actions/setup-java@v4
@@ -106,7 +109,6 @@ jobs:
           body: ${{ steps.readChangelogEntry.outputs.changes }}
 
       - name: Checkout develop branch
-        if: ${{ github.ref }} == 'master'
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           ref: 'develop'
@@ -114,7 +116,6 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Merge release branch into develop
         id: mergeIntoDevelop
-        if: ${{ github.ref }} == 'master'
         run: |
           git merge -m 'Merge master branch into develop after a release' origin/master
           git status | (! grep -Fq 'both modified:') || git status | grep -F 'both modified:' \