diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 72a94311..e71fb22a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -172,6 +172,9 @@ ifneq ($(UPDATE_LATEST),false)
 endif
 
 publish: $(PUBLISH)
+ifeq ($(PUBLISH_WEAVEDB),true)
+	$(SUDO) DOCKER_HOST=$(DOCKER_HOST) docker push   $(DOCKERHUB_USER)/weavedb:latest
+endif
 
 clean-bin:
 	-$(SUDO) DOCKER_HOST=$(DOCKER_HOST) docker rmi $(IMAGES)
diff --git a/bin/release b/bin/release
index efe43fe3..3b6628df 100755
--- a/bin/release
+++ b/bin/release
@@ -165,14 +165,14 @@ publish() {
     setup
     cd $PWD/$RELEASE_DIR
 
-    UPDATE_LATEST=false
+    IS_MAINLINE=false
     if [ "$RELEASE_TYPE" = 'MAINLINE' ] ; then
-        UPDATE_LATEST=true
+        IS_MAINLINE=true
     fi
 
     if [ "$RELEASE_TYPE" = 'PRERELEASE' ] ; then
         echo "== Tagging and pushing images on docker hub as user $DOCKERHUB_USER"
-        make UPDATE_LATEST=$UPDATE_LATEST SUDO=$SUDO WEAVE_VERSION=$VERSION DOCKERHUB_USER=$DOCKERHUB_USER publish
+        make UPDATE_LATEST=$IS_MAINLINE SUDO=$SUDO WEAVE_VERSION=$VERSION DOCKERHUB_USER=$DOCKERHUB_USER publish
         echo "** Docker images tagged and pushed"
 
         echo "== Publishing pre-release on GitHub"
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ publish() {
         echo '** Sanity checks OK for publishing tag' $LATEST_TAG as $DOCKERHUB_USER/weave:$VERSION
 
         echo "== Tagging and pushing images on docker hub as user $DOCKERHUB_USER"
-        make UPDATE_LATEST=$UPDATE_LATEST SUDO=$SUDO WEAVE_VERSION=$VERSION DOCKERHUB_USER=$DOCKERHUB_USER publish
+        make PUBLISH_WEAVEDB=$IS_MAINLINE UPDATE_LATEST=$IS_MAINLINE SUDO=$SUDO WEAVE_VERSION=$VERSION DOCKERHUB_USER=$DOCKERHUB_USER publish
         echo "** Docker images tagged and pushed"
 
         echo "== Publishing release on GitHub"