diff --git a/lib/datasource/github.js b/lib/datasource/github.js
index d69b26765cd4b0598ca479b35b2cb1c21a12b7fd..a3748ca62dd505c01be4fb77f961341fc9780624 100644
--- a/lib/datasource/github.js
+++ b/lib/datasource/github.js
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ module.exports = {
 };
 
 async function getDependency(repo, options = {}) {
-  const ref = options.ref || 'tag';
   let versions;
   let endpoint;
   let token;
@@ -21,17 +20,18 @@ async function getDependency(repo, options = {}) {
     process.env.GITHUB_TOKEN = process.env.GITHUB_COM_TOKEN;
   }
   try {
-    if (ref === 'tag') {
+    if (options.ref === 'release') {
+      const url = `repos/${repo}/releases?per_page=100`;
+      versions = (await ghGot(url, { paginate: true })).body.map(
+        o => o.tag_name
+      );
+    } else {
+      // tag
       const url = `repos/${repo}/git/refs/tags?per_page=100`;
       const tagPrefix = 'refs/tags/';
       versions = (await ghGot(url, { paginate: true })).body
         .filter(o => o.ref && o.ref.startsWith(tagPrefix))
         .map(o => o.ref.replace(tagPrefix, ''));
-    } else if (ref === 'release') {
-      const url = `repos/${repo}/releases?per_page=100`;
-      versions = (await ghGot(url, { paginate: true })).body.map(
-        o => o.tag_name
-      );
     }
   } catch (err) {
     logger.info(
diff --git a/lib/manager/bazel/extract.js b/lib/manager/bazel/extract.js
index 990f0a2e2a2068c7eb2b6ca250262cb934256ebd..ba5689adc450b59446b7803c7c98d0982bf7fe47 100644
--- a/lib/manager/bazel/extract.js
+++ b/lib/manager/bazel/extract.js
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ function extractDependencies(content) {
       dep.depType = 'http_archive';
       dep.depName = depName;
       [, dep.repo, dep.currentValue] = match;
-      dep.purl = 'pkg:github/' + dep.repo;
+      dep.purl = 'pkg:github/' + dep.repo + '?ref=release';
       deps.push(dep);
     } else {
       logger.info(
diff --git a/test/manager/bazel/__snapshots__/extract.spec.js.snap b/test/manager/bazel/__snapshots__/extract.spec.js.snap
index 09fc56968eb374f8245c295786c953200212a005..8b50eef082267649710436c26ca3222702bef519 100644
--- a/test/manager/bazel/__snapshots__/extract.spec.js.snap
+++ b/test/manager/bazel/__snapshots__/extract.spec.js.snap
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ Array [
 ",
     "depName": "io_bazel_rules_go",
     "depType": "http_archive",
-    "purl": "pkg:github/bazelbuild/rules_go",
+    "purl": "pkg:github/bazelbuild/rules_go?ref=release",
     "repo": "bazelbuild/rules_go",
     "versionScheme": "semver",
   },