diff --git a/wrapper/piuparts_runner b/wrapper/piuparts_runner
index 5caf2b2..265e49f 100755
--- a/wrapper/piuparts_runner
+++ b/wrapper/piuparts_runner
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ case "$release" in
     release="${release%%-update}"
     release="${release%%-builddeps}"
     ;;
+  none)
+    release=3.1 # current default
 esac
 
 # adjust Debian/release depending on ngcp version