diff --git a/build/scripts/create-tags b/build/scripts/create-tags
index e2b800c7d0..609623d11b 100755
--- a/build/scripts/create-tags
+++ b/build/scripts/create-tags
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@
 # Important: This script should never cause the pipeline to fail, so that the tags can be created outside of it.
 # To run it locally, you need pass the version, i.e. export VERSION=2.39.x
 # If run locally, it:
-# - it clones the pmm-submodules repo and checks out the branch corresponding to the version
-# - does not need to configure git to push using ssh, this user should set it all up ahead of time
-# - will use the user's creds and email to tag the repos, therefore sufficient permissions are required
+# - clones pmm-submodules repository and checks out the branch corresponding to the version
+# - skips git ssh configuration and expects the user to set it up ahead of time
+# - uses the current user's creds and email to push tags to the repos, therefore sufficient git permissions are required
 
 set +o errexit
 set +o nounset
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ if [ -d "$REPO_DIR" ]; then
     rm -rf "$REPO_DIR"
 fi
 
-if ! git clone --branch "pmm-${VERSION}" https://github.com/Percona-Lab/pmm-submodules "$REPO_DIR"; then
+if ! git clone --branch "pmm-${VERSION}" --single-branch https://github.com/Percona-Lab/pmm-submodules "$REPO_DIR"; then
     echo "Fatal: failed to clone pmm-submodules, branch pmm-${VERSION}"
     exit 0 # this is on purpose, we don't want to fail the pipeline
 fi
@@ -46,20 +46,19 @@ cd "$REPO_DIR" >/dev/null
 git submodule update --init --recursive
 
 for REPO in "${repos[@]}"; do
-
     pushd "$REPO" >/dev/null
         # git remote set-url origin git@github.com:${REPO}.git
         echo "SHA: $(git rev-parse HEAD)"
 
         # If the tag already exists, we want to delete it and re-tag this SHA
         if git tag -l "$TAG"; then
-            echo "Fatal: tag $TAG already exists in $REPO, we won't continue..."
+            echo "Fatal: tag $TAG already exists in $REPO, exiting..."
             break
         fi
 
         git tag --message="Version $VERSION." "$TAG"
         if ! git push origin "$TAG"; then
-            echo "Fatal: failed to tag the repository $REPO with $TAG"
+            echo "Fatal: failed to tag the repository $REPO with $TAG, exiting..."
             break
         fi
     popd >/dev/null