diff --git a/src/devx/ci/release.py b/src/devx/ci/release.py
index 1146941..23b8d77 100644
--- a/src/devx/ci/release.py
+++ b/src/devx/ci/release.py
@@ -136,10 +136,14 @@ def verify_tag_consistency() -> list[str]:
     """
     errors: list[str] = []
     tags = get_all_tags()
-    # Sort oldest first to identify the first tag
-    sorted_tags = sorted(tags, key=lambda t: [int(x) for x in t.lstrip("v").split(".")])
+    # Filter to version tags (vX.Y.Z) and sort oldest first
+    version_tags = [t for t in tags if re.match(r"^v\d+\.\d+\.\d+$", t)]
+    sorted_tags = sorted(version_tags, key=lambda t: [int(x) for x in t.lstrip("v").split(".")])
     first_tag = sorted_tags[0] if sorted_tags else None
     for tag in tags:
+        # Skip non-version tags (e.g., branch names like "master")
+        if not re.match(r"^v\d+\.\d+\.\d+$", tag):
+            continue
         tag_version = tag.lstrip("v")
         commit_version = get_commit_version(tag)
         if commit_version is None:
@@ -478,7 +482,7 @@ def verify_alignment() -> int:
     )
     if result.returncode == 0 and result.stdout.strip():
         all_release_commits = result.stdout.strip().split("\n")
-        all_tags_set = {t.lstrip("v") for t in get_all_tags()}
+        all_tags_set = {t.lstrip("v") for t in get_all_tags() if re.match(r"^v\d+\.\d+\.\d+$", t)}
         truly_untagged: list[str] = []
         duplicates: list[str] = []
         for line in all_release_commits:
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_release.py b/tests/unit/test_release.py
index e27bf3b..e3532bf 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_release.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_release.py
@@ -270,6 +270,15 @@ class TestVerifyTagConsistency:
         mock_tags.return_value = []
         assert verify_tag_consistency() == []
 
+    @patch("devx.ci.release.get_commit_version")
+    @patch("devx.ci.release.get_all_tags")
+    def test_non_version_tags_ignored(self, mock_tags: MagicMock, mock_cv: MagicMock) -> None:
+        """Non-version tags like 'master' should be skipped, not crash."""
+        mock_tags.return_value = ["v0.2.0", "master", "v0.1.0"]
+        mock_cv.side_effect = ["0.2.0", "0.1.0"]  # only version tags get checked
+        errors = verify_tag_consistency()
+        assert errors == []
+
 
 class TestGetInitVersion:
     def test_returns_version(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch) -> None: