diff --git a/.github/scripts/verify_envoy_version.sh b/.github/scripts/verify_envoy_version.sh
index f9067eaa37f7..91694f608606 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/verify_envoy_version.sh
+++ b/.github/scripts/verify_envoy_version.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 set -euo pipefail
 
-current_branch=$GITHUB_REF
+current_branch=$GITHUB_REF_NAME
 GITHUB_DEFAULT_BRANCH='main'
 
 if [ -z "$GITHUB_TOKEN" ]; then
@@ -13,10 +13,15 @@ if [ -z "$GITHUB_TOKEN" ]; then
 fi
 
 if [ -z "$current_branch" ]; then
-  echo "GITHUB_REF must be set"
+  echo "GITHUB_REF_NAME must be set"
   exit 1
 fi
 
+if [[ "$SKIP_VERIFY_ENVOY_VERSION" = "true" ]]; then
+  echo -e "*************** VERIFY ENVOY VERSION IS DISABLED. To enable, set the environment variable SKIP_VERIFY_ENVOY_VERSION to false in .github/workflows/verify-envoy-version.yml *****************"
+  exit 0
+fi
+
 # Get Consul and Envoy version 
 SCRIPT_DIR="$( cd -- "$(dirname "$0")" >/dev/null 2>&1 ; pwd -P )"
 pushd $SCRIPT_DIR/../.. # repository root
@@ -76,7 +81,6 @@ released_envoy_version=$(get_latest_envoy_version)
 major_released_envoy_version="${released_envoy_version[@]:1:4}"
 
 validate_envoy_version_main(){
-  echo "verify "main" GitHub branch has latest envoy version"
   # Get envoy version for current branch
   ENVOY_VERSIONS=$(sanitize_consul_envoy_version | awk '{print $2}' | tr ',' ' ')
   envoy_version_main_branch=$(get_major_version ${ENVOY_VERSIONS})
@@ -118,8 +122,8 @@ echo checking out branch: "${current_branch}"
 git checkout "${current_branch}"
 
 echo
-echo "Branch ${current_branch} =>Consul version: ${CONSUL_VERSION}; Envoy Version: ${ENVOY_VERSIONS}" 
-echo "Branch ${GITHUB_DEFAULT_BRANCH} =>Consul version: ${CONSUL_VERSION_DEFAULT_BRANCH}; Envoy Version: ${ENVOY_VERSIONS_DEFAULT_BRANCH}" 
+echo "Branch ${current_branch} => Consul version: ${CONSUL_VERSION}; Envoy Version: ${ENVOY_VERSIONS}" 
+echo "Branch ${GITHUB_DEFAULT_BRANCH} => Consul version: ${CONSUL_VERSION_DEFAULT_BRANCH}; Envoy Version: ${ENVOY_VERSIONS_DEFAULT_BRANCH}" 
 
 ## Get major Consul and Envoy versions on release and default branch
 MAJOR_CONSUL_VERSION=$(get_major_version ${CONSUL_VERSION})
diff --git a/.github/workflows/verify-envoy-version.yml b/.github/workflows/verify-envoy-version.yml
index 9e8b7e7e89b3..64c50517f274 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/verify-envoy-version.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/verify-envoy-version.yml
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ on:
       - main
       - release/**
 
+env:
+  SKIP_VERIFY_ENVOY_VERSION: "true" ## temporarily disabled; set to false to enable script
+
 jobs:
   verify-envoy-version:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest