diff --git a/.github/workflows/upstream-sync.yml b/.github/workflows/upstream-sync.yml
index b5ce1d55efb44..48bcf75dc3990 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/upstream-sync.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/upstream-sync.yml
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ jobs:
         git checkout -B master FETCH_HEAD
         git push origin master --force
         
-        # Count commits for tagging
+        # Count commits for tagging - this is the master branch commit count
         COMMIT_COUNT=$(git rev-list --count HEAD)
         echo "COMMIT_COUNT=$COMMIT_COUNT" >> $GITHUB_ENV
 
@@ -64,6 +64,10 @@ jobs:
         
         BRANCH_NAME="update-dev-from-master-$(date +'%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M')"
         git checkout -b $BRANCH_NAME
+
+        # Make sure branch contains master content before creating the PR
+        git merge --no-edit master
+
         git push origin $BRANCH_NAME --force
         
         PR_TITLE="Sync master with upstream release $LATEST_TAG"
@@ -144,10 +148,12 @@ jobs:
         
         echo "PR merged successfully!"
         
-        # Create tag
+        # Create tag using master branch commit count
+        TAG_NAME="$COMMIT_COUNT"
+        
+        # Checkout dev to apply the tag
         git fetch origin dev
         git checkout dev
-        TAG_NAME="b$COMMIT_COUNT"
         
         # Check if tag exists
         if git rev-parse "$TAG_NAME" >/dev/null 2>&1; then