diff --git a/.github/workflows/check-version-update-on-release.yaml b/.github/workflows/check-version-update-on-release.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..05baf09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/check-version-update-on-release.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+name: Check Version update on release
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    branches:
+      - 'release/*'
+
+jobs:
+  check:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v5
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - run: |
+          CHANGED_FILES=$(git diff --name-only "origin/${{ github.base_ref }}...HEAD")
+
+          if ! echo "${CHANGED_FILES}" | grep -qx "package.json"; then
+            echo "::error::Release PRs must include an update to package.json."
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          if ! echo "${CHANGED_FILES}" | grep -qx "package-lock.json"; then
+            echo "::error::Release PRs must include an update to package-lock.json."
+            exit 1
+          fi
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-publish.yaml b/.github/workflows/test-publish.yaml
index 0a27ee1..f229a76 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-publish.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-publish.yaml
@@ -4,8 +4,6 @@ on:
   push:
     branches:
       - main
-    tags:
-      - 'v*'
   pull_request:
     branches:
       - main
@@ -77,14 +75,14 @@ jobs:
           path: coverage
 
   publish:
-    name: Publish
+    if: github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
+    name: Publish on version update
     needs:
       - test
     permissions:
       contents: read
       id-token: write
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    if: github.event_name == 'push' && startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v5
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v5
@@ -92,10 +90,24 @@ jobs:
           node-version-file: '/.nvmrc'
           registry-url: 'https://registry.npmjs.org'
 
-      - run: npm ci
-      - run: npm run build
+      - name: Check for version update
+        id: check_version
+        run: |
+          CURRENT_VERSION=$(jq -r .version package.json)
+          PREVIOUS_VERSION=$(git show HEAD~1:package.json | jq -r .version)
+
+          if [[ "$CURRENT_VERSION" != "$PREVIOUS_VERSION" ]]; then
+            echo "version_updated=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          fi
+
+      - if: steps.check_version.outputs.version_updated
+        run: npm ci
+
+      - if: steps.check_version.outputs.version_updated
+        run: npm run build
 
-      - name: Publish
+      - if: steps.check_version.outputs.version_updated
+        name: Publish
         env:
           NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
         run: |