diff --git a/setup/publish.py b/setup/publish.py
index 679db64dcd..eb002ebedc 100644
--- a/setup/publish.py
+++ b/setup/publish.py
@@ -105,6 +105,9 @@ class Publish(Command):
     def pre_sub_commands(self, opts):
         require_git_master()
         require_clean_git()
+        version = tuple(map(int, __version__.split('.')))  # noqa: RUF048
+        if version[2] > 99:
+            raise SystemExit('The version number indicates a preview release, did you mean to run ./setup.py publish_preview?')
         if 'PUBLISH_BUILD_DONE' not in os.environ:
             subprocess.check_call([sys.executable, 'setup.py', 'check'])
             subprocess.check_call([sys.executable, 'setup.py', 'build'])