diff --git a/.github/scripts/api_deploy.py b/.github/scripts/api_deploy.py
index 058713f..00e7085 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/api_deploy.py
+++ b/.github/scripts/api_deploy.py
@@ -212,6 +212,13 @@ def create_pr_or_update_branch_on_api_repo(
             print(f"Switching to branch: {branch_name}")
             api_repo.git.checkout('-B', branch_name)
 
+            # Pull remote branch contents if it exists so we commit on top
+            try:
+                api_repo.git.pull('origin', branch_name)
+                print(f"Pulled latest from origin/{branch_name}")
+            except GitCommandError:
+                print(f"No existing remote branch '{branch_name}' to pull.")
+
             # Create repo directory if it doesn't exist
             repo_dir = os.path.join(temp_dir, repo_name)
             os.makedirs(repo_dir, exist_ok=True)
@@ -250,11 +257,8 @@ def create_pr_or_update_branch_on_api_repo(
                 print("Adding remote 'origin' with access token")
                 origin = api_repo.create_remote("origin", auth_url)
 
-            # Force Push because we allow APIs for a specific version to
-            # reflect the latest representation of the version/ref.
             print(f"Pushing branch to remote...")
-            api_repo.git.push('--force', '--set-upstream',
-                              'origin', branch_name)
+            api_repo.git.push('--set-upstream', 'origin', branch_name)
 
             # Check if PR already exists
             existing_pr = check_existing_pr(
diff --git a/.github/workflows/api_docs_gen.yml b/.github/workflows/api_docs_gen.yml
index 58fcc92..4f80c56 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/api_docs_gen.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/api_docs_gen.yml
@@ -32,6 +32,9 @@ on:
       dry_run:
         type: boolean
         default: false
+      api_deploy_version:
+        type: string
+        default: 5.x.y
 
 jobs:
   generate_api_docs:
@@ -51,7 +54,9 @@ jobs:
       - run: pip install -r ${{ inputs.dir }}/docs/requirements.txt gitpython requests
       - run: conan config install https://github.com/libhal/conan-config2.git
       - run: conan hal docs --doc_version ${{ inputs.version }} ${{ inputs.dir }}/docs
-      - run: wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/libhal/ci/5.x.y/.github/scripts/api_deploy.py
+      - name: print api docs version name
+        run: echo ${{ inputs.api_deploy_version }}
+      - run: wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/libhal/ci/${{ inputs.api_deploy_version }}/.github/scripts/api_deploy.py
       - name: Deploy to API repo
         if: ${{ inputs.dry_run == false }}
         run: python api_deploy.py deploy --version ${{ inputs.version }} --repo-name ${{ inputs.repo_name }} --docs-dir ${{ inputs.dir }}/docs/build/
diff --git a/.github/workflows/self_check.yml b/.github/workflows/self_check.yml
index bac5457..600a688 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/self_check.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/self_check.yml
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ jobs:
           filters: |
             api_docs:
               - '.github/workflows/api_docs_gen.yml'
+              - '.github/scripts/api_deploy.yml'
             library_check:
               - '.github/workflows/library_check.yml'
             tests:
@@ -70,6 +71,7 @@ jobs:
       dir: .
       dry_run: true
       version: main
+      api_deploy_version: ${{ github.head_ref }}
     secrets: inherit
 
   api_libhal_v4:
@@ -82,6 +84,7 @@ jobs:
       dir: v4
       dry_run: true
       version: main
+      api_deploy_version: ${{ github.head_ref }}
     secrets: inherit
 
   library_check_libhal_v4: