diff --git a/config/dev/hmc_values.yaml b/config/dev/hmc_values.yaml
index ea8e4958b..68bdf3b10 100644
--- a/config/dev/hmc_values.yaml
+++ b/config/dev/hmc_values.yaml
@@ -4,5 +4,5 @@ image:
 controller:
   defaultRegistryURL: oci://hmc-local-registry:5000/charts
   insecureRegistry: true
-  createRelease: true
+  createRelease: false
   createTemplates: false
diff --git a/internal/controller/release_controller.go b/internal/controller/release_controller.go
index 7d32f495b..8736e148d 100644
--- a/internal/controller/release_controller.go
+++ b/internal/controller/release_controller.go
@@ -106,14 +106,10 @@ func (r *ReleaseReconciler) ensureManagement(ctx context.Context) error {
 	if !apierrors.IsNotFound(err) {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get %s Management object: %w", hmc.TemplateManagementName, err)
 	}
-
-	if r.CreateRelease {
-		mgmtObj.Spec.Release, err = r.getCurrentReleaseName(ctx)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
+	mgmtObj.Spec.Release, err = r.getCurrentReleaseName(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
-
 	if err := mgmtObj.Spec.SetProvidersDefaults(); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -161,7 +157,7 @@ func (r *ReleaseReconciler) reconcileHMCTemplates(ctx context.Context, req ctrl.
 		l.Info("Templates creation is disabled")
 		return nil
 	}
-	if !r.CreateRelease || initialReconcile(req) {
+	if initialReconcile(req) && !r.CreateRelease {
 		l.Info("Initial creation of HMC Release is skipped")
 		return nil
 	}
@@ -210,7 +206,7 @@ func (r *ReleaseReconciler) reconcileHMCTemplates(ctx context.Context, req ctrl.
 		helmChart.Labels[hmc.HMCManagedLabelKey] = hmc.HMCManagedLabelValue
 		helmChart.Spec = sourcev1.HelmChartSpec{
 			Chart:   r.HMCTemplatesChartName,
-			Version: utils.ChartVersionFromVersion(version),
+			Version: version,
 			SourceRef: sourcev1.LocalHelmChartSourceReference{
 				Kind: sourcev1.HelmRepositoryKind,
 				Name: defaultRepoName,
diff --git a/internal/utils/release.go b/internal/utils/release.go
index 8162dbea0..3acc85ce0 100644
--- a/internal/utils/release.go
+++ b/internal/utils/release.go
@@ -20,15 +20,6 @@ func ReleaseNameFromVersion(version string) string {
 	return "hmc-" + strings.ReplaceAll(strings.TrimPrefix(version, "v"), ".", "-")
 }
 
-func ChartVersionFromVersion(version string) string {
-	index := strings.Index(version, "-")
-	cut := strings.TrimPrefix(version, "v")
-	if index >= 1 {
-		cut = cut[:index-1]
-	}
-	return cut
-}
-
 func TemplatesChartFromReleaseName(releaseName string) string {
 	return releaseName + "-tpl"
 }