diff --git a/releng.control/config.xml b/releng.control/config.xml
index 1a57c40e742e06c2de1018e4a19d0846bef31a43..9eb676306135e70a26e9fff6231a5bcb6604fb96 100644
--- a/releng.control/config.xml
+++ b/releng.control/config.xml
@@ -292,6 +292,10 @@
                 <property
                     name="buildType"
                     value="N" />
+                <!-- in this context, buildBranch is simply a label -->
+                <property
+                    name="buildBranch"
+                    value="" />
                 <property
                     name="mapVersionTag"
                     value="HEAD" />