diff --git a/deploy.sh b/deploy.sh
index e9513f8..d39ae9a 100755
--- a/deploy.sh
+++ b/deploy.sh
@@ -213,9 +213,9 @@ if [[ $1 == "blackhole" ]]; then
 elif [[ $1 == "test" ]]; then
     sync_test "$2"
 elif [[ $1 == "validate" ]]; then
-    # check package versions in requirements.txt for updates
-    python version_check.py
     validate "$2"
+elif [[ $1 == "versioncheck" ]]; then
+    python version_check.py
 elif [[ $1 == "docker" ]]; then
     sync_docker
 elif [[ $1 == "unstable" ]]; then
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ elif [[ $1 == "unstable" ]]; then
 elif [[ $1 == "es" ]]; then
     sync_latest_es
 else
-    echo "valid options are: blackhole | test | validate | docker | unstable | es"
+    echo "valid options are: blackhole | test | validate | versioncheck | docker | unstable | es"
 fi