diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_packages.yaml b/.github/workflows/build_packages.yaml
index 9854c7a75..2f10b4c80 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build_packages.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_packages.yaml
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ jobs:
   windows:
     runs-on: windows-2019
 
+    if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
+
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v1
     - uses: ilammy/msvc-dev-cmd@v1
@@ -64,7 +66,6 @@ jobs:
         ./_build/emqx/rel/emqx/bin/emqx install
         ./_build/emqx/rel/emqx/bin/emqx uninstall
     - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v1
-      if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
       with:
         name: emqx
         path: ./_packages/emqx/.
@@ -72,6 +73,8 @@ jobs:
   mac:
     runs-on: macos-10.15
 
+    if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
+
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v1
     - name: prepare
@@ -80,6 +83,7 @@ jobs:
         echo "/usr/local/bin" >> $GITHUB_PATH
         git config --global credential.helper store
     - name: build erlang
+      timeout-minutes: 60
       run: |
         kerl build 23.2.2
         kerl install 23.2.2 $HOME/.kerl/23.2.2
@@ -111,7 +115,6 @@ jobs:
         rm -rf emqx
         openssl dgst -sha256 ./_packages/emqx/$pkg_name | awk '{print $2}'  > ./_packages/emqx/$pkg_name.sha256
     - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v1
-      if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
       with:
         name: emqx
         path: ./_packages/emqx/.
@@ -245,6 +248,8 @@ jobs:
   docker:
     runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
 
+    if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
+
     strategy:
       matrix:
         arch:
@@ -280,12 +285,10 @@ jobs:
         sudo TARGET=emqx/emqx-edge ARCH=$ARCH QEMU_ARCH=$QEMU_ARCH  make docker
         cd _packages/emqx-edge && for var in $(ls emqx-edge-docker-* ); do sudo bash -c "echo $(sha256sum $var | awk '{print $1}') > $var.sha256"; done && cd -
     - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v1
-      if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
       with:
         name: emqx
         path: ./_packages/emqx/.
     - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v1
-      if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
       with:
         name: emqx-edge
         path: ./_packages/emqx-edge/.
diff --git a/pkg-vsn.sh b/pkg-vsn.sh
index 80027ba61..01b58e3a5 100755
--- a/pkg-vsn.sh
+++ b/pkg-vsn.sh
@@ -1,12 +1,20 @@
 #!/bin/bash
+set -e -u
 
 # This script prints the release version for emqx
 
 # ensure dir
 cd -P -- "$(dirname -- "$0")"
 
+case $(uname) in
+    *Darwin*) SED="sed -E";;
+    *) SED="sed -r";;
+esac
+
 # comment SUFFIX out when finalising RELEASE
-RELEASE="4.3.0"
-SUFFIX="-pre-$(git rev-parse HEAD | cut -b1-8)"
+RELEASE="$(grep -oE '\{vsn, (.*)\}' src/emqx.app.src | $SED 's/\{vsn, (.*)\}/\1/g' | $SED 's/\"//g')"
+if [ -d .git ] && ! git describe --tags --match "v${RELEASE}" --exact >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  SUFFIX="-$(git rev-parse HEAD | cut -b1-8)"
+fi
 
 echo "${RELEASE}${SUFFIX:-}"
diff --git a/src/emqx.app.src b/src/emqx.app.src
index 40c0ff955..e7689a2b7 100644
--- a/src/emqx.app.src
+++ b/src/emqx.app.src
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {application, emqx,
  [{description, "EMQ X Broker"},
   {id, "emqx"},
-  {vsn, "4.3.0"}, % strict semver, bump manually!
+  {vsn, "4.3-alpha.1"}, % strict semver, bump manually!
   {modules, []},
   {registered, []},
   {applications, [kernel,stdlib,gproc,gen_rpc,esockd,cowboy,sasl,os_mon]},