diff --git a/make/dev.mk b/make/dev.mk
index 742c028ff..9fd2d8421 100644
--- a/make/dev.mk
+++ b/make/dev.mk
@@ -45,7 +45,8 @@ dev.update-bootstrap-credentials-aws:
 
 .PHONY: release-please
 release-please:
-ifneq ($(shell [[ "$(GIT_CURRENT_BRANCH)" = "main" ]] || [[ "$(GIT_CURRENT_BRANCH)" == release/v* ]]; echo $$?),0)
+# filter Returns all whitespace-separated words in text that do match any of the pattern words.
+ifeq ($(filter main release/v%,$(GIT_CURRENT_BRANCH)),)
 	$(error "release-please should only be run on the main or release branch")
 else
 	release-please release-pr --repo-url $(GITHUB_ORG)/$(GITHUB_REPOSITORY) --target-branch $(GIT_CURRENT_BRANCH) --token "$$(gh auth token)"