diff --git a/buildspec.yaml b/buildspec.yaml
index b3dac131ac590..4f59f0c807d33 100644
--- a/buildspec.yaml
+++ b/buildspec.yaml
@@ -18,9 +18,7 @@ phases:
       - /bin/bash ./fetch-dotnet-snk.sh
   build:
     commands:
-      # we bump here so that our master version won't be identical to the latest published version during tests.
-      # otherwise this causes problems with verdaccio mirroring.
-      - '[ ${GIT_BRANCH} = ${REGRESSION_TESTS_BRANCH} ] && /bin/bash ./bump-candidate.sh'
+      - 'if ${BUMP_CANDIDATE:-false}; then /bin/bash ./bump-candidate.sh; fi'
       - /bin/bash ./scripts/align-version.sh
       - /bin/bash ./build.sh
   post_build:
diff --git a/bump-candidate.sh b/scripts/bump-candidate.sh
similarity index 97%
rename from bump-candidate.sh
rename to scripts/bump-candidate.sh
index 5958a9a151230..a88122308e6a1 100755
--- a/bump-candidate.sh
+++ b/scripts/bump-candidate.sh
@@ -20,4 +20,4 @@ version=${1:-minor}
 
 echo "Starting candidate ${version} version bump"
 
-npx standard-version --release-as ${version} --prerelease=rc --skip.commit --skip.changelog
\ No newline at end of file
+npx standard-version --release-as ${version} --prerelease=rc --skip.commit --skip.changelog