diff --git a/pkg/variantregistry/ocp.go b/pkg/variantregistry/ocp.go
index fd2db2049..ba4649acd 100644
--- a/pkg/variantregistry/ocp.go
+++ b/pkg/variantregistry/ocp.go
@@ -161,12 +161,13 @@ ORDER BY j.prowjob_job_name;
 	}
 
 	var (
-		wg              sync.WaitGroup
-		parallelism     = 20
-		jobCh           = make(chan *prowJobLastRun)
-		count           atomic.Int64
-		variantsByJobMu sync.Mutex
-		variantsByJob   = make(map[string]map[string]string)
+		wg                  sync.WaitGroup
+		parallelism         = 20
+		jobCh               = make(chan *prowJobLastRun)
+		count               atomic.Int64
+		variantsByJobMu     sync.Mutex
+		variantsByJob       = make(map[string]map[string]string)
+		variantsByJobSource = make(map[string]string) // tracks which original job name was used
 	)
 
 	// Producer
@@ -234,11 +235,39 @@ ORDER BY j.prowjob_job_name;
 						jLog.WithField("gcs_bucket", jlr.GCSBucket).WithField("url", jlr.URL.StringVal).Error("job had no gcs bucket or prow job url, proceeding without")
 					}
 
-					variants := v.CalculateVariantsForJob(jLog, jlr.JobName, clusterData)
+					normalizedJobName := normalizeJobNameForVariants(jlr.JobName)
+					variants := v.CalculateVariantsForJob(jLog, normalizedJobName, clusterData)
+
+					// Handle collision resolution when multiple job names normalize to the same key.
+					// This is temporary transition logic for the openshift-release master->main rename.
+					// TODO(sgoeddel): Remove this collision handling logic after confirming no master jobs exist
+					// in query results (master jobs fully aged out).
 					variantsByJobMu.Lock()
-					variantsByJob[jlr.JobName] = variants
+					existingSource := variantsByJobSource[normalizedJobName]
+					shouldUpdate := false
+
+					if existingSource == "" {
+						// No existing entry, always insert
+						shouldUpdate = true
+					} else if strings.Contains(existingSource, "-master-") && strings.Contains(jlr.JobName, "-main-") {
+						// Prefer main over master for deterministic collision resolution
+						shouldUpdate = true
+						jLog.WithField("existing_source", existingSource).WithField("new_source", jlr.JobName).Info("replacing master variant with main variant")
+					} else {
+						// Keep existing entry (either main already exists, or both are master/main, first wins)
+						jLog.WithField("existing_source", existingSource).WithField("new_source", jlr.JobName).Debug("keeping existing variant, skipping duplicate")
+					}
+
+					if shouldUpdate {
+						variantsByJob[normalizedJobName] = variants
+						variantsByJobSource[normalizedJobName] = jlr.JobName
+					}
 					variantsByJobMu.Unlock()
+
 					count.Add(1)
+					if normalizedJobName != jlr.JobName {
+						jLog.WithField("original_name", jlr.JobName).WithField("normalized_name", normalizedJobName).Info("normalized job name")
+					}
 					jLog.WithField("variants", variants).WithField("count", count.Load()).Info("calculated variants")
 				}
 			}
@@ -252,6 +281,17 @@ ORDER BY j.prowjob_job_name;
 	return variantsByJob, nil
 }
 
+// normalizeJobNameForVariants normalizes job names to handle transitions like master -> main.
+// This ensures that jobs renamed from master to main are treated as the same job in the variant registry.
+// Currently only applies to openshift/release jobs.
+func normalizeJobNameForVariants(jobName string) string {
+	// Only normalize openshift-release jobs, using Replace (not ReplaceAll) to change only the first occurrence
+	if strings.Contains(jobName, "openshift-release-master") {
+		return strings.Replace(jobName, "-master-", "-main-", 1)
+	}
+	return jobName
+}
+
 // fileVariantsToIgnore are values in the cluster-data.json that vary by run, and are not consistent for the job itself.
 // These are unsuited for variants.
 var fileVariantsToIgnore = map[string]bool{
diff --git a/pkg/variantregistry/ocp_test.go b/pkg/variantregistry/ocp_test.go
index 51737ed03..dc68eb0d8 100644
--- a/pkg/variantregistry/ocp_test.go
+++ b/pkg/variantregistry/ocp_test.go
@@ -1790,3 +1790,44 @@ func TestVariantsSnapshot(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Logf("\n****** Run `make update-variants` to update the snapshot and accept these changes.")
 	}
 }
+
+func TestNormalizeJobNameForVariants(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		jobName  string
+		expected string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:     "openshift-release master to main",
+			jobName:  "periodic-ci-openshift-release-master-nightly-4.16-e2e-aws-ovn",
+			expected: "periodic-ci-openshift-release-main-nightly-4.16-e2e-aws-ovn",
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "openshift-release ci master to main",
+			jobName:  "periodic-ci-openshift-release-master-ci-4.16-e2e-azure-ovn-upgrade",
+			expected: "periodic-ci-openshift-release-main-ci-4.16-e2e-azure-ovn-upgrade",
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "non-openshift-release master unchanged",
+			jobName:  "periodic-ci-openshift-multiarch-master-nightly-4.17-ocp-e2e-aws-ovn",
+			expected: "periodic-ci-openshift-multiarch-master-nightly-4.17-ocp-e2e-aws-ovn",
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "already main stays main",
+			jobName:  "periodic-ci-openshift-release-main-nightly-4.16-e2e-aws-ovn",
+			expected: "periodic-ci-openshift-release-main-nightly-4.16-e2e-aws-ovn",
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "other repos with master unchanged",
+			jobName:  "periodic-ci-openshift-hive-master-e2e-aws",
+			expected: "periodic-ci-openshift-hive-master-e2e-aws",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			result := normalizeJobNameForVariants(tt.jobName)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.expected, result, "normalization failed for %s", tt.jobName)
+		})
+	}
+}