diff --git a/gitlab/deploy.sh b/gitlab/deploy.sh
index d7c131c5708d06e539e2a1d17ac007acbff86f22..8456392531e81af2d9a994ba41ed499f9cf48448 100755
--- a/gitlab/deploy.sh
+++ b/gitlab/deploy.sh
@@ -9,9 +9,10 @@ run_cmd $(dirname ${0})/docs.sh
 run_cmd $(dirname ${0})/after_docs.sh
 
 if [ "${VISIBILITY}" != "public" ]; then
-  log_error "ERROR: You cannot publish a PRIVATE to PyPI"
-  log_error "ERROR: Make this package public before re-trying!"
-  exit 1
+  log_warn "WARNING: You cannot publish a PRIVATE to PyPI"
+  log_warn "WARNING: Make this package public if you wish to do so next time"
+  log_warn "WARNING: Stopping deployment procedure before PyPI/Conda pushes"
+  exit 0
 fi
 
 lock_pypirc