diff --git a/bert_e/tests/test_bert_e.py b/bert_e/tests/test_bert_e.py
index ad823415..c7f597ee 100644
--- a/bert_e/tests/test_bert_e.py
+++ b/bert_e/tests/test_bert_e.py
@@ -689,6 +689,39 @@ def test_with_v_prefix(self):
         # expect the same result
         self.finalize_cascade(branches, v_tags, destination, fixver)
 
+    def test_major_development_branch(self):
+        destination = 'development/4.3'
+        branches = OrderedDict({
+            1: {'name': 'stabilization/4.3.18', 'ignore': True},
+            2: {'name': 'development/4.3', 'ignore': False},
+            3: {'name': 'development/4', 'ignore': False},
+            4: {'name': 'stabilization/5.1.4', 'ignore': True},
+            5: {'name': 'development/5.1', 'ignore': False},
+            6: {'name': 'development/10.0', 'ignore': False},
+            7: {'name': 'development/10', 'ignore': False}
+        })
+        tags = ['4.3.16', '4.3.17', '4.3.18_rc1',
+                'v5.1.3', 'v5.1.4_rc1', 'v10.0.1']
+        fixver = []
+        with self.assertRaises(AssertionError):
+            self.finalize_cascade(branches, tags, destination, fixver)
+        fixver = ['4.3.19', '4.4.0', '5.1.5', '10.0.2', '10.1.0']
+        self.finalize_cascade(branches, tags, destination, fixver)
+
+        destination = 'development/4'
+        branches = OrderedDict({
+            1: {'name': 'development/4.3', 'ignore': True},
+            2: {'name': 'development/4', 'ignore': False}
+        })
+        fixver = ['4.4.0']
+        self.finalize_cascade(branches, tags, destination, fixver)
+
+        branches = OrderedDict({
+            1: {'name': 'development/4', 'ignore': False}
+        })
+        self.finalize_cascade(branches, tags, destination, fixver)
+
+
     def test_retry_handler(self):
         class DummyError(Exception):
             pass
diff --git a/bert_e/workflow/gitwaterflow/branches.py b/bert_e/workflow/gitwaterflow/branches.py
index 38707685..7b3bce50 100644
--- a/bert_e/workflow/gitwaterflow/branches.py
+++ b/bert_e/workflow/gitwaterflow/branches.py
@@ -164,6 +164,8 @@ def version_t(self):
         return (self.major, self.minor, self.micro, self.hfrev)
 
 
+# TODO: consider creating a 4th element in the cascade with a
+# MajorDevlopment branch that will inherit from DevelopmentBranch
 @total_ordering
 class DevelopmentBranch(GWFBranch):
     pattern = r'^development/(?P<version>(?P<major>\d+)(\.(?P<minor>\d+))?)$'
@@ -172,6 +174,7 @@ class DevelopmentBranch(GWFBranch):
     can_be_destination = True
     allow_prefixes = FeatureBranch.all_prefixes
     has_stabilization = False
+    latest_minor = -1
 
     def __eq__(self, other):
         return (self.__class__ == other.__class__ and
@@ -897,6 +900,7 @@ def add_branch(self, branch, dst_branch=None):
 
         self._cascade[(major, minor)][branch.__class__] = branch
 
+    # TODO: rename method or split it in two
     def update_micro(self, tag):
         """Update development branch latest micro based on tag."""
         pattern = r"^v?(?P<major>\d+)\.(?P<minor>\d+)\.(?P<micro>\d+)" \
@@ -913,15 +917,17 @@ def update_micro(self, tag):
         if match.groupdict()['hfrev'] is not None:
             hfrev = int(match.groupdict()['hfrev'])
 
-        try:
-            branches = self._cascade[(major, minor)]
-        except KeyError:
+        branches = self._cascade.get((major, minor), {})
+        major_branches = self._cascade.get((major, None), {})
+
+        if not branches and not major_branch:
             LOG.debug("Ignore tag: %s", tag)
             return
 
-        hf_branch = branches[HotfixBranch]
-        stb_branch = branches[StabilizationBranch]
-        dev_branch = branches[DevelopmentBranch]
+        hf_branch: HotfixBranch = branches.get(HotfixBranch)
+        stb_branch: StabilizationBranch = branches.get(StabilizationBranch)
+        dev_branch: DevelopmentBranch = branches.get(DevelopmentBranch)
+        major_branch: DevelopmentBranch = major_branches.get(DevelopmentBranch)
 
         if hf_branch:
             if hf_branch.micro == micro:
@@ -944,6 +950,9 @@ def update_micro(self, tag):
         if dev_branch:
             dev_branch.micro = max(micro, dev_branch.micro)
 
+        if major_branch:
+            major_branch.latest_minor = max(minor, major_branch.latest_minor)
+
     def validate(self):
         previous_dev_branch = None
         for (major, minor), branch_set in self._cascade.items():
@@ -976,6 +985,7 @@ def validate(self):
 
             previous_dev_branch = dev_branch
 
+    # not used right now but might come useful to handle a case with dev/1 and stab/1.0.0
     def _find_latest_minor(self, major) -> int | None:
         """For a given major version, find in the cascade the latest minor."""
         minors = [minor for (m, minor) in self._cascade.keys() if m == major and minor is not None]
@@ -1008,10 +1018,8 @@ def _set_target_versions(self, dst_branch):
                 self.target_versions.append('%d.%d.%d' % (
                     major, minor, dev_branch.micro + offset))
             elif dev_branch and dev_branch.has_minor is False:
-                latest_minor = self._find_latest_minor(major)
-                minor = latest_minor + 1 if latest_minor is not None else 0
                 # TODO: handle case with stab/x.y.z with no dev/x.y
-                self.target_versions.append(f"{major}.{minor}.{dev_branch.micro + 1}")
+                self.target_versions.append(f"{major}.{dev_branch.latest_minor + 1}.{dev_branch.micro + 1}")
 
 
     def finalize(self, dst_branch):