diff --git a/.github/workflows/sync.yml b/.github/workflows/sync.yml
index d453dc9305..ea815a219a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/sync.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/sync.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 name: Sync template
 on:
-  release:
-    types: [published]
+  # release:
+  #   types: [published]
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
       testpipeline:
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           if [ "${{ github.event.inputs.testpipeline }}" == "true" ]; then
             echo '{"pipeline":["testpipeline"]}' > pipeline_names.json
-          elif [ "${{ github.event.inputs.pipeline }}" != "all" ]; then
+          elif [ "${{ github.event.inputs.pipeline }}" != "all" ] && [ "${{ github.event.inputs.pipeline }}" != "" ]; then
             curl -O https://nf-co.re/pipeline_names.json
             # check if the pipeline exists
             if ! grep -q "\"${{ github.event.inputs.pipeline }}\"" pipeline_names.json; then
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 06b20c5aa9..8acbe1e382 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 ### General
 
 - Use updated pipeline commands in docstrings ([#3215](https://github.com/nf-core/tools/pull/3215))
+- Disable automatic sync on release, fix handling empty pipeline input ([#3217](https://github.com/nf-core/tools/pull/3217))
 
 ## [v3.0.1 - Titanium Tapir Patch](https://github.com/nf-core/tools/releases/tag/3.0.1) - [2024-10-09]