diff --git a/.github/renovate.json b/.github/renovate.json
index ae4f0aa..a780298 100644
--- a/.github/renovate.json
+++ b/.github/renovate.json
@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@
     ":preserveSemverRanges"
   ],
   "labels": ["auto-update"],
+  "dependencyDashboardAutoclose": true,
   "enabledManagers": ["terraform"],
   "terraform": {
     "ignorePaths": ["**/context.tf", "examples/**"]
   }
 }
-
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ddc6722..aa5f39a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -198,6 +198,7 @@ Available targets:
 | <a name="input_regex_replace_chars"></a> [regex\_replace\_chars](#input\_regex\_replace\_chars) | Terraform regular expression (regex) string.<br>Characters matching the regex will be removed from the ID elements.<br>If not set, `"/[^a-zA-Z0-9-]/"` is used to remove all characters other than hyphens, letters and digits. | `string` | `null` | no |
 | <a name="input_rest_api_policy"></a> [rest\_api\_policy](#input\_rest\_api\_policy) | The IAM policy document for the API. | `string` | `null` | no |
 | <a name="input_stage"></a> [stage](#input\_stage) | ID element. Usually used to indicate role, e.g. 'prod', 'staging', 'source', 'build', 'test', 'deploy', 'release' | `string` | `null` | no |
+| <a name="input_stage_name"></a> [stage\_name](#input\_stage\_name) | The name of the stage | `string` | `""` | no |
 | <a name="input_tags"></a> [tags](#input\_tags) | Additional tags (e.g. `{'BusinessUnit': 'XYZ'}`).<br>Neither the tag keys nor the tag values will be modified by this module. | `map(string)` | `{}` | no |
 | <a name="input_tenant"></a> [tenant](#input\_tenant) | ID element \_(Rarely used, not included by default)\_. A customer identifier, indicating who this instance of a resource is for | `string` | `null` | no |
 | <a name="input_xray_tracing_enabled"></a> [xray\_tracing\_enabled](#input\_xray\_tracing\_enabled) | A flag to indicate whether to enable X-Ray tracing. | `bool` | `false` | no |
diff --git a/docs/terraform.md b/docs/terraform.md
index 4a3e8ba..d878910 100644
--- a/docs/terraform.md
+++ b/docs/terraform.md
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@
 | <a name="input_regex_replace_chars"></a> [regex\_replace\_chars](#input\_regex\_replace\_chars) | Terraform regular expression (regex) string.<br>Characters matching the regex will be removed from the ID elements.<br>If not set, `"/[^a-zA-Z0-9-]/"` is used to remove all characters other than hyphens, letters and digits. | `string` | `null` | no |
 | <a name="input_rest_api_policy"></a> [rest\_api\_policy](#input\_rest\_api\_policy) | The IAM policy document for the API. | `string` | `null` | no |
 | <a name="input_stage"></a> [stage](#input\_stage) | ID element. Usually used to indicate role, e.g. 'prod', 'staging', 'source', 'build', 'test', 'deploy', 'release' | `string` | `null` | no |
+| <a name="input_stage_name"></a> [stage\_name](#input\_stage\_name) | The name of the stage | `string` | `""` | no |
 | <a name="input_tags"></a> [tags](#input\_tags) | Additional tags (e.g. `{'BusinessUnit': 'XYZ'}`).<br>Neither the tag keys nor the tag values will be modified by this module. | `map(string)` | `{}` | no |
 | <a name="input_tenant"></a> [tenant](#input\_tenant) | ID element \_(Rarely used, not included by default)\_. A customer identifier, indicating who this instance of a resource is for | `string` | `null` | no |
 | <a name="input_xray_tracing_enabled"></a> [xray\_tracing\_enabled](#input\_xray\_tracing\_enabled) | A flag to indicate whether to enable X-Ray tracing. | `bool` | `false` | no |
diff --git a/main.tf b/main.tf
index e9acd1c..87b219e 100644
--- a/main.tf
+++ b/main.tf
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ resource "aws_api_gateway_stage" "this" {
   count                = local.enabled ? 1 : 0
   deployment_id        = aws_api_gateway_deployment.this[0].id
   rest_api_id          = aws_api_gateway_rest_api.this[0].id
-  stage_name           = module.this.stage
+  stage_name           = var.stage_name != "" ? var.stage_name : module.this.stage
   xray_tracing_enabled = var.xray_tracing_enabled
   tags                 = module.this.tags
 
diff --git a/variables.tf b/variables.tf
index 805298a..969ec42 100644
--- a/variables.tf
+++ b/variables.tf
@@ -120,4 +120,10 @@ variable "permissions_boundary" {
   type        = string
   default     = ""
   description = "ARN of the policy that is used to set the permissions boundary for the IAM role"
+}
+
+variable "stage_name" {
+  type        = string
+  default     = ""
+  description = "The name of the stage"
 }
\ No newline at end of file