diff --git a/.github/workflows/go-release.yml b/.github/workflows/go-release.yml
index 75fc08ee..db033e04 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/go-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/go-release.yml
@@ -45,6 +45,10 @@ on:
         description: 'Space-separated list of GitHub login substrings to exclude from the changelog (bot authors). Logins ending in [bot] are always excluded. Extends the default list inside the gptchangelog composite action.'
         type: string
         default: ''
+      prerelease_backmerge_sync_enabled:
+        description: 'Merge main into a prerelease branch (develop/release-candidate) before calculating its next version. Defaults to false (opt-in) — set to true to enable this pre-version-calculation sync, which can skip/block a release on those branches when the merge cannot complete directly. The post-release backmerge on main after a stable release is unaffected by this input either way.'
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
 
       # ----------------- Build (build.yml) -----------------
       enable_dockerhub:
@@ -256,6 +260,7 @@ jobs:
       enable_major_tag: ${{ inputs.enable_major_tag }}
       stable_releases_only: ${{ inputs.stable_releases_only }}
       changelog_bot_ignore_list: ${{ inputs.changelog_bot_ignore_list }}
+      prerelease_backmerge_sync_enabled: ${{ inputs.prerelease_backmerge_sync_enabled }}
       shared_paths: ${{ inputs.shared_paths }}
       filter_paths: ${{ !inputs.release_single_app && inputs.filter_paths || '' }}
     secrets: inherit
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index e582ee72..845ef052 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -99,6 +99,11 @@ on:
         required: false
         type: string
         default: 'develop,release-candidate'
+      prerelease_backmerge_sync_enabled:
+        description: 'Merge backmerge_source into a prerelease branch (see prerelease_branches) before calculating its next version. Independent of backmerge_enabled, which also gates the separate post-release backmerge on backmerge_source itself. Defaults to false (opt-in) — set to true to enable this pre-version-calculation sync, which can skip/block a release on prerelease branches when the merge cannot complete directly. The post-release backmerge on backmerge_source is unaffected by this input either way.'
+        required: false
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
 
 permissions:
   contents: read
@@ -256,7 +261,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Sync ${{ inputs.backmerge_source }} → ${{ github.ref_name }} before calculating version
         id: pre_sync
-        if: inputs.backmerge_enabled && steps.classify.outputs.is_prerelease == 'true'
+        if: inputs.backmerge_enabled && inputs.prerelease_backmerge_sync_enabled && steps.classify.outputs.is_prerelease == 'true'
         uses: LerianStudio/github-actions-shared-workflows/src/config/backmerge-sync@v1
         with:
           github-token: ${{ steps.app-token.outputs.token }}
diff --git a/docs/release-workflow.md b/docs/release-workflow.md
index 49a61aaf..5f6dbc66 100644
--- a/docs/release-workflow.md
+++ b/docs/release-workflow.md
@@ -88,6 +88,8 @@ jobs:
 | `backmerge_target` | string | `develop` | Branch that receives the backmerge |
 | `backmerge_mode` | string | `direct-with-pr-fallback` | Backmerge strategy: `direct`, `pr`, or `direct-with-pr-fallback` |
 | `dry_run` | boolean | `false` | Run semantic-release in dry-run mode (no tags/releases) and preview the backmerge instead of applying it |
+| `prerelease_branches` | string | `develop,release-candidate` | Comma-separated list of branches treated as prerelease lines (beta/rc) |
+| `prerelease_backmerge_sync_enabled` | boolean | `false` | Merge `backmerge_source` into a prerelease branch before calculating its next version. Independent of `backmerge_enabled`, which also gates the separate post-release backmerge on `backmerge_source` itself. Opt-in — set to `true` to enable this pre-version-calculation sync, which can skip/block a release on prerelease branches when the merge cannot complete directly |
 
 ## Secrets