diff --git a/pkg/steps/multi_stage/multi_stage.go b/pkg/steps/multi_stage/multi_stage.go
index b27e22a94a..9cb7861a51 100644
--- a/pkg/steps/multi_stage/multi_stage.go
+++ b/pkg/steps/multi_stage/multi_stage.go
@@ -363,10 +363,16 @@ func (s *multiStageTestStep) Requires() (ret []api.StepLink) {
 		}
 	}
 	if s.profile != "" {
-		needsReleasePayload = true
+		_, hasLatestRelease := s.config.Releases[api.LatestReleaseName]
+		hasReleaseTagConfig := s.config.ReleaseTagConfiguration != nil
+		if hasLatestRelease || hasReleaseTagConfig {
+			needsReleasePayload = true
+		}
 		for _, env := range envForProfile {
 			if link, ok := utils.LinkForEnv(env); ok {
-				ret = append(ret, link)
+				if hasLatestRelease || hasReleaseTagConfig {
+					ret = append(ret, link)
+				}
 			}
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/steps/multi_stage/multi_stage_test.go b/pkg/steps/multi_stage/multi_stage_test.go
index ff162d26df..95e0b80a0e 100644
--- a/pkg/steps/multi_stage/multi_stage_test.go
+++ b/pkg/steps/multi_stage/multi_stage_test.go
@@ -32,11 +32,50 @@ func TestRequires(t *testing.T) {
 		leaseProxyServerAvailable bool
 		req                       []api.StepLink
 	}{{
-		name: "step has a cluster profile and requires a release image, should not have ReleaseImagesLink",
+		name: "step has a cluster profile with releases configured and requires a release image",
+		config: api.ReleaseBuildConfiguration{
+			InputConfiguration: api.InputConfiguration{
+				Releases: map[string]api.UnresolvedRelease{
+					api.LatestReleaseName: {Release: &api.Release{Channel: api.ReleaseChannelStable, Version: "4.20"}},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		steps: api.MultiStageTestConfigurationLiteral{
+			ClusterProfile: api.ClusterProfileAWS,
+			Test:           []api.LiteralTestStep{{From: "from-release"}},
+		},
+		req: []api.StepLink{
+			api.ReleasePayloadImageLink(api.LatestReleaseName),
+			api.ImagesReadyLink(),
+		},
+	}, {
+		name: "step has a cluster profile without releases configured, should not require release payload",
 		steps: api.MultiStageTestConfigurationLiteral{
 			ClusterProfile: api.ClusterProfileAWS,
 			Test:           []api.LiteralTestStep{{From: "from-release"}},
 		},
+		req: []api.StepLink{
+			api.ReleaseImagesLink(api.LatestReleaseName),
+		},
+	}, {
+		name: "cluster profile only without releases should not require any release links",
+		steps: api.MultiStageTestConfigurationLiteral{
+			ClusterProfile: api.ClusterProfileAWS,
+		},
+		req: nil,
+	}, {
+		name: "cluster profile with tag_specification should require release payload",
+		config: api.ReleaseBuildConfiguration{
+			InputConfiguration: api.InputConfiguration{
+				ReleaseTagConfiguration: &api.ReleaseTagConfiguration{
+					Namespace: "ocp",
+					Name:      "4.20",
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		steps: api.MultiStageTestConfigurationLiteral{
+			ClusterProfile: api.ClusterProfileAWS,
+		},
 		req: []api.StepLink{
 			api.ReleasePayloadImageLink(api.LatestReleaseName),
 			api.ImagesReadyLink(),