diff --git a/.github/actions/nm-get-docker-tags/action.yml b/.github/actions/nm-get-docker-tags/action.yml
index eace804698909..c7b9cf85e69e7 100644
--- a/.github/actions/nm-get-docker-tags/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/nm-get-docker-tags/action.yml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ inputs:
     description: "type of nm-vllm to install for the docker image: NIGHTLY or RELEASE"
     required: true
   whl:
-    description: "wheel name, if latest use the latest from nm pypi"
+    description: "name of nm-vllm wheel to install for the docker image"
     required: true
 outputs:
   tag:
@@ -24,14 +24,21 @@ runs:
     run: |
       BUILD_VERSION=`echo "${{ inputs.whl }}" | cut -d'-' -f2`
       if [[ "${{ inputs.wf_category }}" == "RELEASE" ]]; then
-          TAG="v${BUILD_VERSION}"
-          EXTRA_TAG=latest
+          if [[ "${BUILD_VERSION}" =~ ^[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+              TAG="v${BUILD_VERSION}"
+              EXTRA_TAG=latest
+          else
+              echo "ERROR: wheel version ${BUILD_VERSION} doesn't match RELEASE format. Check input."
+              exit 1
+          fi
       else
-          TAG=`echo "${BUILD_VERSION}" | cut -d'.' -f4`
-          EXTRA_TAG=nightly
-      fi
-      if [[ "${{ inputs.whl }}" == "latest" ]]; then
-          BUILD_VERSION="latest"
+          if [[ "${BUILD_VERSION}" =~ ^[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]{8}$ ]]; then
+              TAG=`echo "${BUILD_VERSION}" | cut -d'.' -f4`
+              EXTRA_TAG=nightly
+          else
+              echo "ERROR: wheel version ${BUILD_VERSION} doesn't match NIGHTLY format. Check input."
+              exit 1
+          fi
       fi
       echo "tag=${TAG}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
       echo "extra_tag=${EXTRA_TAG}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
diff --git a/.github/workflows/nm-build-test.yml b/.github/workflows/nm-build-test.yml
index 831af771f0aa9..7f13c58b427e4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/nm-build-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/nm-build-test.yml
@@ -173,8 +173,7 @@ jobs:
 
     # update docker
     DOCKER:
-        needs: [BUILD, UPLOAD]
-        if: ${{ inputs.push_to_pypi }}
+        needs: [BUILD]
         uses: ./.github/workflows/publish-docker.yml
         with:
             push_to_repository: ${{ inputs.push_to_pypi }}