diff --git a/src/GitVersionCore.Tests/GitVersionContextTests.cs b/src/GitVersionCore.Tests/GitVersionContextTests.cs
index d91910af75..5261f4a416 100644
--- a/src/GitVersionCore.Tests/GitVersionContextTests.cs
+++ b/src/GitVersionCore.Tests/GitVersionContextTests.cs
@@ -90,6 +90,38 @@ public void UsesBranchSpecificConfigOverTopLevelDefaults()
             context.Configuration.Tag.ShouldBe("alpha");
         }
 
+        [Test]
+        public void UsesFirstBranchConfigWhenMultipleMatch()
+        {
+            var config = new Config
+            {
+                VersioningMode = VersioningMode.ContinuousDelivery,
+                Branches =
+                {
+                    { "release/latest", new BranchConfig { Increment = IncrementStrategy.None, Regex = "release/latest" } },
+                    { "release", new BranchConfig { Increment = IncrementStrategy.Patch, Regex = "releases?[/-]" } }
+                }
+            }.ApplyDefaults();
+
+            var releaseLatestBranch = new MockBranch("release/latest") { new MockCommit { CommitterEx = Generate.SignatureNow() } };
+            var releaseVersionBranch = new MockBranch("release/1.0.0") { new MockCommit { CommitterEx = Generate.SignatureNow() } };
+
+            var mockRepository = new MockRepository
+            {
+                Branches = new MockBranchCollection
+                {
+                    releaseLatestBranch,
+                    releaseVersionBranch
+                }
+            };
+
+            var latestContext = new GitVersionContext(mockRepository, releaseLatestBranch, config);
+            latestContext.Configuration.Increment.ShouldBe(IncrementStrategy.None);
+
+            var versionContext = new GitVersionContext(mockRepository, releaseVersionBranch, config);
+            versionContext.Configuration.Increment.ShouldBe(IncrementStrategy.Patch);
+        }
+
         [Test]
         public void CanFindParentBranchForInheritingIncrementStrategy()
         {
diff --git a/src/GitVersionCore/BranchConfigurationCalculator.cs b/src/GitVersionCore/BranchConfigurationCalculator.cs
index 5409bebd8f..14f314cf94 100644
--- a/src/GitVersionCore/BranchConfigurationCalculator.cs
+++ b/src/GitVersionCore/BranchConfigurationCalculator.cs
@@ -16,16 +16,19 @@ public static BranchConfig GetBranchConfiguration(Commit currentCommit, IReposit
         {
             var matchingBranches = LookupBranchConfiguration(config, currentBranch).ToArray();
 
-            if (matchingBranches.Length > 1)
-            {
-                const string format = "Multiple branch configurations match the current branch branchName of '{0}'. Matching configurations: '{1}'";
-                throw new Exception(string.Format(format, currentBranch.FriendlyName, string.Join(", ", matchingBranches.Select(b => b.Name))));
-            }
-
             BranchConfig branchConfiguration;
-            if (matchingBranches.Length == 1)
+            if (matchingBranches.Length > 0)
             {
                 branchConfiguration = matchingBranches[0];
+
+                if (matchingBranches.Length > 1)
+                {
+                    Logger.WriteWarning(string.Format(
+                        "Multiple branch configurations match the current branch branchName of '{0}'. Using the first matching configuration, '{1}'. Matching configurations include: '{2}'",
+                        currentBranch.FriendlyName,
+                        branchConfiguration.Name,
+                        string.Join("', '", matchingBranches.Select(b => b.Name))));
+                }
             }
             else
             {