diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 4f119a3..5aee9fc 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -16,9 +16,10 @@ build_and_push:
     DOCKER_TLS_CERTDIR: ""
     DOCKER_HOST: tcp://docker:2375
   rules:
-    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "main"'
+    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH'
   script:
-    - docker login -u "$CI_REGISTRY_USER" -p "$CI_REGISTRY_PASSWORD" "$CI_REGISTRY"
+    - test -n "$CI_REGISTRY" -a -n "$CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE" || (echo "GitLab Container Registry is not enabled/configured for this project." && exit 1)
+    - echo "$CI_REGISTRY_PASSWORD" | docker login -u "$CI_REGISTRY_USER" --password-stdin "$CI_REGISTRY"
     - docker build --target production -t "$IMAGE_TAG" -t "$IMAGE_TAG_LATEST" .
     - docker push "$IMAGE_TAG"
     - docker push "$IMAGE_TAG_LATEST"
@@ -30,7 +31,7 @@ deploy_production:
     name: production
     url: https://api-finance.ai-assistant-bot.xyz
   rules:
-    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "main"'
+    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH'
       when: manual
       allow_failure: false
   before_script:
@@ -49,6 +50,7 @@ deploy_production:
         --exclude='coverage' \
         --exclude='dist' \
         ./ "$DEPLOY_USER@$DEPLOY_HOST:/opt/apps/api-finance/"
-    - ssh "$DEPLOY_USER@$DEPLOY_HOST" "docker login -u '$CI_REGISTRY_USER' -p '$CI_REGISTRY_PASSWORD' '$CI_REGISTRY'"
+    - test -n "$CI_REGISTRY" -a -n "$CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE" || (echo "GitLab Container Registry is not enabled/configured for this project." && exit 1)
+    - ssh "$DEPLOY_USER@$DEPLOY_HOST" "echo '$CI_REGISTRY_PASSWORD' | docker login -u '$CI_REGISTRY_USER' --password-stdin '$CI_REGISTRY'"
     - ssh "$DEPLOY_USER@$DEPLOY_HOST" "cd /opt/apps/api-finance && APP_IMAGE='$IMAGE_TAG' docker compose -f docker-compose.server.yml pull"
     - ssh "$DEPLOY_USER@$DEPLOY_HOST" "cd /opt/apps/api-finance && APP_IMAGE='$IMAGE_TAG' docker compose -f docker-compose.server.yml up -d"