diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index af22a6d7b4c1..9cbb1ca6812d 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ release-binary: $(RELEASE_DIR)
 release-staging: ## Builds and push container images to the staging bucket.
 	REGISTRY=$(STAGING_REGISTRY) $(MAKE) docker-build-all docker-push-all release-alias-tag
 
-RELEASE_ALIAS_TAG=$(shell if [ "$(PULL_BASE_REF)" = "master" ]; then echo "latest"; else echo "$(PULL_BASE_REF)"; fi)
+RELEASE_ALIAS_TAG=$(PULL_BASE_REF)
 
 .PHONY: release-alias-tag
 release-alias-tag: # Adds the tag to the last build tag.
diff --git a/config/default/manager_image_patch.yaml b/config/default/manager_image_patch.yaml
index 7ce253ee13f1..472f75963741 100644
--- a/config/default/manager_image_patch.yaml
+++ b/config/default/manager_image_patch.yaml
@@ -7,5 +7,5 @@ spec:
   template:
     spec:
       containers:
-      - image: gcr.io/k8s-staging-cluster-api/cluster-api-controller:latest
+      - image: gcr.io/k8s-staging-cluster-api/cluster-api-controller:master
         name: manager