diff --git a/.cirrus.yml b/.cirrus.yml
index c16edde29c..b04ef9d74c 100644
--- a/.cirrus.yml
+++ b/.cirrus.yml
@@ -324,6 +324,9 @@ ubuntu22_spicy_head_task:
   upload_binary_artifacts:
     path: build.tgz
   benchmark_script: ./ci/benchmark.sh
+  # Don't run this job on release branches. It tests against spicy HEAD, which
+  # will frequently require other fixes that won't be in a release branch.
+  skip: $CIRRUS_BRANCH =~ 'release/.*'
   << : *BENCHMARK_ONLY_IF_TEMPLATE
 
 ubuntu20_task:
diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index dc0a4fbe31..5f03f56ddc 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+7.0.0-dev.260 | 2024-05-16 09:34:55 -0700
+
+  * CI: Disable spicy_head task for release branches (Tim Wojtulewicz, Corelight)
+
 7.0.0-dev.258 | 2024-05-15 20:00:41 -0700
 
   * CI: Use llvm-cov-18 on Cirrus for building coverage data (Tim Wojtulewicz, Corelight)
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index c4d2a63153..ca6dab8931 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-7.0.0-dev.258
+7.0.0-dev.260