diff --git a/Makefile.inc1 b/Makefile.inc1
index d85e6fd8f15b..a4c593ec5b1c 100644
--- a/Makefile.inc1
+++ b/Makefile.inc1
@@ -2027,12 +2027,17 @@ real-update-packages: stage-packages .PHONY
 	@for pkg in ${PKG_VERSION_FROM_DIR}/${PKG_NAME_PREFIX}-*; do \
 	  pkgname=$$(pkg query -F $${pkg} '%n' | sed 's/${PKG_NAME_PREFIX}-\(.*\)/\1/') ; \
 	  newpkgname=${PKG_NAME_PREFIX}-$${pkgname}-${PKG_VERSION}.${PKG_EXT} ; \
-	  oldsum=$$(pkg query -F $${pkg} '%X') ; \
+	  eval $$(pkg query -F $${pkg} 'oldsum=%X\nversion=%v') ; \
 	  if [ ! -f ${REPODIR}/${PKG_ABI}/${PKG_VERSION}/$${newpkgname} ]; then \
 	    continue; \
 	  fi ; \
+	  if [ "${BRANCH:C/-p.*//}" = "RELEASE" ]; then \
+	    case "$${version}" in \
+	    *rc*|*a*|*b*) continue ;; \
+	    esac ; \
+	  fi ; \
 	  newsum=$$(pkg query -F ${REPODIR}/${PKG_ABI}/${PKG_VERSION}/$${newpkgname} '%X') ; \
-	  if [ "$${oldsum}" == "$${newsum}" ]; then \
+	  if [ "$${oldsum}" = "$${newsum}" ]; then \
 	   echo "==> Keeping old ${PKG_NAME_PREFIX}-$${pkgname}-${PKG_VERSION_FROM}.${PKG_EXT}" ; \
 	   rm ${REPODIR}/${PKG_ABI}/${PKG_VERSION}/$${newpkgname} ; \
 	   cp $${pkg} ${REPODIR}/${PKG_ABI}/${PKG_VERSION} ; \