diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 5a44306..4f5b183 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -2,18 +2,23 @@ stages:
   - generate
   - release
 
+variables:
+  TAGS: ""
+
 generate:
   stage: generate
   image: python:3.11-alpine
   script:
     - pip install -r requirements.txt
     - ./update.py > tags.txt
+  rules:
+  # if specific version is set, don't run this job
+    - if: '$TAGS == ""'
   artifacts:
     expire_in: 1 hour
     paths:
       - tags.txt
 
-
 release-image:
   needs:
     - job: generate
@@ -22,6 +27,13 @@ release-image:
   stage: release
   services:
     - docker:dind
+  rules:
+  # if not specific version is set, use artifacts from generate job
+    - if: '$TAGS == ""'
+      needs:
+      - job: generate
+        artifacts: true
+    - if: '$TAGS'
   variables:
     DOCKER_HOST: tcp://docker:2376
     DOCKER_TLS_CERTDIR: "/certs"
@@ -31,8 +43,9 @@ release-image:
     - until docker info; do sleep 1; done
     - docker login -u "$CI_REGISTRY_USER" -p "$CI_REGISTRY_PASSWORD" $CI_REGISTRY
   script:
+    - if [ -z "$TAGS" ]; then export TAGS=$(cat tags.txt); fi
     - |
-      for tag in $(cat tags.txt); do
+      for tag in $TAGS; do
         export IMAGE_TAG=$CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE:$tag
         echo $IMAGE_TAG
         sed "s/latest/$tag/g" Dockerfile > Dockerfile.tmp