diff --git a/.github/workflows/push_docker.yml b/.github/workflows/push_docker.yml
index 96a4a710..6c35c105 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/push_docker.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/push_docker.yml
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ on:
   push:
     branches:
       - main
+    tags:
+      - 'v*'
     paths-ignore:
       - '**/*.md'
 
diff --git a/src/sync_template.sh b/src/sync_template.sh
index a898f74f..10e97467 100755
--- a/src/sync_template.sh
+++ b/src/sync_template.sh
@@ -60,7 +60,9 @@ echo "::endgroup::"
 echo "::group::commit and push changes"
 git add .
 
-if [ -r ${TEMPLATE_SYNC_IGNORE_FILE_NAME} ]
+# we are checking the ignore file if it exists or is empty
+# -s is true if the file contains whitespaces
+if [ -s ${TEMPLATE_SYNC_IGNORE_FILE_NAME} ]
 then
   echo "::debug::unstage files from template sync ignore"
   git reset --pathspec-from-file="${TEMPLATE_SYNC_IGNORE_FILE_NAME}"