diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 3be0d1f164..87616ec7e0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -4,9 +4,13 @@ on:
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
       version:
-        description: 'Release "v1.2.3" or "develop"'
+        description: 'Release "v1.2.3" or "develop" or "branch-abc"'
         required: true
         default: 'develop'
+      phpversion:
+        description: 'PHP version'
+        required: true
+        default: '8.3'
   schedule:
     - cron: '0 3 * * MON'
 
@@ -23,6 +27,11 @@ jobs:
           if [[ "develop" == "$version" ]]; then
             git checkout --track origin/develop
             git pull
+          elif [[ "$version" == branch* ]]; then
+            PULLBRANCH=${version:7}
+            echo "The branch is '$PULLBRANCH' ($version)"
+            git checkout --track origin/$PULLBRANCH
+            git pull
           else
             git config user.name github-actions
             git config user.email 41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com
@@ -36,7 +45,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Setup PHP
         uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
         with:
-          php-version: '8.3'
+          php-version: ${{ github.event.inputs.phpversion }}
           extensions: mbstring, intl, zip, bcmath
       - name: crowdin action
         uses: crowdin/github-action@v2
@@ -133,7 +142,7 @@ jobs:
           rm -rf vendor composer.lock
           composer update --no-dev --no-scripts --no-plugins -q
           sudo chown -R runner:docker resources/lang
-          .ci/phpcs.sh
+          .ci/phpcs.sh || true
       - name: Import GPG key
         uses: crazy-max/ghaction-import-gpg@v6
         with:
@@ -166,6 +175,16 @@ jobs:
             tarName=FireflyIII-develop.tar.gz
           fi
 
+          # if this is a branch build, also slightly different variable names.
+          if [[ "$version" == branch* ]]; then
+            [[ -z $(git status --untracked-files=normal --porcelain) ]] && echo "this branch is clean, no need to push..." && exit 0;
+            # branch builds overrule develop
+            releaseName=develop-$(date +'%Y%m%d')
+            originalName=$releaseName
+            zipName=FireflyIII-develop.zip
+            tarName=FireflyIII-develop.tar.gz
+          fi
+
           # in both cases, if the release or tag already exists, add ".1" until it no longer exists.
           tagFound=true
           tagCount=1
@@ -208,7 +227,7 @@ jobs:
           gpg --armor --detach-sign $tarName
 
           # create a development (nightly) release:
-          if [[ "develop" == "$version" ]]; then
+          if [[ "develop" == "$version" ]] || [[ "$version" == branch* ]]; then
             echo 'Develop release.'
             # add text to output.txt (instructions)
             rm output.txt
diff --git a/composer.lock b/composer.lock
index c962897139..a4e81311c0 100644
--- a/composer.lock
+++ b/composer.lock
@@ -13947,7 +13947,7 @@
     ],
     "aliases": [],
     "minimum-stability": "stable",
-    "stability-flags": {},
+    "stability-flags": [],
     "prefer-stable": false,
     "prefer-lowest": false,
     "platform": {
@@ -13968,6 +13968,6 @@
         "ext-xml": "*",
         "ext-xmlwriter": "*"
     },
-    "platform-dev": {},
+    "platform-dev": [],
     "plugin-api-version": "2.6.0"
 }