diff --git a/gitlab/deploy.sh b/gitlab/deploy.sh
index dafa0aadd3bab5a2a486ff62b766c6262b382631..044eab686bfefa84e21301c0d3be2186c24bbd99 100755
--- a/gitlab/deploy.sh
+++ b/gitlab/deploy.sh
@@ -3,6 +3,12 @@
 
 source $(dirname ${0})/functions.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
+fi
+
 lock_pypirc
 
 #setup_deploy register --repository staging