<!--IssueSummary start--> <details> <summary> Everyone can contribute. [Help move this issue forward](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/developer-relations/contributor-success/community-contributors-workflows/#contributor-links) while earning points, leveling up and collecting rewards. </summary> - [Close this issue](https://contributors.gitlab.com/manage-issue?action=close&projectId=278964&issueIid=14525) </details> <!--IssueSummary end--> In our project there are two long-lived branches, master and develop. According to our workflow, it is an error to merge either branch into the other. You should always create a release or hotfix branch and merge that into master and/or develop. The prompt "create merge request" is misleading and may tempt certain users into accidentally merging the wrong branches. Feature request: Add an option to "protected branches" to disallow automatic merges for that particular branch. I found another feature request for the same thing <a href="https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/2434">here</a>.