diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index 6751a36c..09c368ae 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -26,27 +26,13 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         name: Check out code
+
+      - name: Prepare Artifacts
+        run: |
+          ./hack/prepare-artifacts.sh ${{ github.ref_name }}
+
       - name: Create Draft Release
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          OWNER: ${{ github.repository_owner }}
-          REPO: ${{ github.event.repository.name }}
         run: |
-          GH_EXTRA_ARGS=""
-          if [[ ${{ github.ref_name }} == *-rc.* ]]; then
-            GH_EXTRA_ARGS="--prerelease"
-          fi
-          gh release create ${{ github.ref_name }} \
-            --draft \
-            -t "${{ github.ref_name }}" \
-            -R $OWNER/$REPO \
-            --verify-tag \
-            $GH_EXTRA_ARGS
-
-      - name: Upload Release Artifacts
-        env:
-          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          OWNER: ${{ github.repository_owner }}
-          REPO: ${{ github.event.repository.name }}
-        run: |
-          gh release upload ${{ github.ref_name }} CHANGELOG.md -R $OWNER/$REPO
+          ./hack/create-release.sh ${{ github.ref_name }}
diff --git a/hack/create-release.sh b/hack/create-release.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..e4ba90f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hack/create-release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+# Copyright 2024 NVIDIA CORPORATION
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+if [ -z "$1" ]; then
+  VERSION=$(awk -F= '/^VERSION/ { print $2 }' versions.mk | tr -d '[:space:]')
+else
+  VERSION=$1
+fi
+
+
+PRERELEASE_FLAG=""
+REPO="stable"
+if [[ ${VERSION} == v*-rc.* ]]; then
+    PRERELEASE_FLAG="--prerelease"
+    REPO="experimental"
+fi
+
+REPOSITORY=NVIDIA/nvidia-container-toolkit
+
+echo "Creating draft release"
+./hack/generate-changelog.sh --version ${VERSION} | \
+    grep -v "### Version v" | \
+        echo gh release create ${VERSION} --notes-file "-" \
+                --draft \
+                --title "${VERSION}" \
+                -R "${REPOSITORY}" \
+                --verify-tag \
+                --prerelease
+
+echo "Uploading release artifacts for ${VERSION}"
+
+PACKAGE_ROOT=release-${VERSION}-${REPO}
+
+gh release upload ${VERSION} \
+    ${PACKAGE_ROOT}/nvidia-container-toolkit-${VERSION}.*.tar.gz \
+    -R ${REPOSITORY}
diff --git a/hack/generate-changelog.sh b/hack/generate-changelog.sh
index e2175f15..8324350c 100755
--- a/hack/generate-changelog.sh
+++ b/hack/generate-changelog.sh
@@ -24,14 +24,12 @@ Usage: $this --reference <tag> [--remote <remote_name>]
 
 Options:
   --since     specify the tag to start the changelog from (default: latest tag)
-  --remote    specify the remote to fetch tags from (default: upstream)
   --version   specify the version to be released
   --help/-h   show this help and exit
 
 EOF
 }
 
-REMOTE="upstream"
 VERSION=""
 REFERENCE=
 
@@ -44,11 +42,6 @@ while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
         shift # past argument
         shift # past value
         ;;
-        --remote)
-        REMOTE="$2"
-        shift # past argument
-        shift # past value
-        ;;
         --version)
         VERSION="$2"
         shift # past argument
@@ -64,13 +57,22 @@ while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
 done
 
 # Fetch the latest tags from the remote
-git fetch $REMOTE --tags
+remote=$( git remote -v | grep -E "NVIDIA/nvidia-container-toolkit(\.git)?\s" | grep -oE "^[a-z]+" | sort -u )
+>&2 echo "Detected remote as '${remote}'"
+git fetch ${remote} --tags
 
 # if REFERENCE is not set, get the latest tag
 if [ -z "$REFERENCE" ]; then
-    REFERENCE=$(git describe --tags $(git rev-list --tags --max-count=1))
+    most_recent_tag=$(git tag --sort=-creatordate | head -1)
+    if [ "${VERSION}" == "${most_recent_tag}" ]; then
+        REFERENCE=$(git tag --sort=-creatordate | head -2 | tail -1)
+    else
+        REFERENCE=${most_recent_tag}
+    fi
 fi
 
+>&2 echo "Using ${REFERENCE} as previous version"
+
 # Print the changelog
 echo "## Changelog"
 echo ""
diff --git a/hack/prepare-artifacts.sh b/hack/prepare-artifacts.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..d6eb0bdb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hack/prepare-artifacts.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+#!/bin/bash -e
+
+# Copyright (c) 2023, NVIDIA CORPORATION.  All rights reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+set -o pipefail
+
+# if arg1 is set, it will be used as the version number
+if [ -z "$1" ]; then
+  VERSION=$(awk -F= '/^VERSION/ { print $2 }' versions.mk | tr -d '[:space:]')
+else
+  VERSION=$1
+fi
+
+if [[ -z ${VERSION} ]]; then
+  echo "VERSION must be specified"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+SHA=$(git rev-parse --short=8 ${VERSION})
+
+IMAGE_NAME="ghcr.io/nvidia/container-toolkit"
+IMAGE_TAG=${SHA}-packaging
+
+REPO="experimental"
+if [[ ${VERSION/rc./} == ${VERSION} ]]; then
+    REPO="stable"
+fi
+
+PACKAGE_ROOT=release-${VERSION}-${REPO}
+
+./hack/pull-packages.sh \
+    ${IMAGE_NAME}:${IMAGE_TAG} \
+    ${PACKAGE_ROOT}
+
+PACKAGE_VERSION=${VERSION/-/\~}
+PACKAGE_VERSION=${PACKAGE_VERSION#v}
+
+tar -czvf ${PACKAGE_ROOT}/nvidia-container-toolkit-${VERSION}.deb.amd64.tar.gz ${PACKAGE_ROOT}/packages/ubuntu18.04/amd64/*_${PACKAGE_VERSION}-1_amd64.deb
+tar -czvf ${PACKAGE_ROOT}/nvidia-container-toolkit-${VERSION}.deb.arm64.tar.gz ${PACKAGE_ROOT}/packages/ubuntu18.04/arm64/*_${PACKAGE_VERSION}-1_arm64.deb
+tar -czvf ${PACKAGE_ROOT}/nvidia-container-toolkit-${VERSION}.rpm.aarch64.tar.gz ${PACKAGE_ROOT}/packages/centos7/aarch64/*-${PACKAGE_VERSION}-1.aarch64.rpm
+tar -czvf ${PACKAGE_ROOT}/nvidia-container-toolkit-${VERSION}.rpm.x86_64.tar.gz ${PACKAGE_ROOT}/packages/centos7/x86_64/*-${PACKAGE_VERSION}-1.x86_64.rpm
diff --git a/hack/prepare-release.sh b/hack/prepare-release.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..c4aaf4f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hack/prepare-release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,186 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# Copyright (c) 2024, NVIDIA CORPORATION.  All rights reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+set -o pipefail
+
+this=`basename $0`
+
+usage () {
+cat << EOF
+Usage: $this [-h] [-a] RELEASE_VERSION
+
+Options:
+  --previous-version    specify the previous version (default: latest tag)
+  --help/-h             show this help and exit
+
+Example:
+
+  $this {{ VERSION }}
+
+EOF
+}
+
+validate_semver() {
+    local version=$1
+    local semver_regex="^v([0-9]+)\.([0-9]+)\.([0-9]+)(-([0-9A-Za-z-]+(\.[0-9A-Za-z-]+)*))?$"
+
+    if [[ $version =~ $semver_regex ]]; then
+        major=${BASH_REMATCH[1]}
+        minor=${BASH_REMATCH[2]}
+        patch=${BASH_REMATCH[3]}
+
+        # Check if major, minor, and patch are numeric
+        if ! [[ $major =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] || ! [[ $minor =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] || ! [[ $patch =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+            echo "Invalid SemVer format: $version"
+            return 1
+        fi
+
+        # Validate prerelease if present
+        if [[ ! -z "${BASH_REMATCH[5]}" ]]; then
+            prerelease=${BASH_REMATCH[5]}
+            prerelease_regex="^([0-9A-Za-z-]+(\.[0-9A-Za-z-]+)*)$"
+            if ! [[ $prerelease =~ $prerelease_regex ]]; then
+                echo "Invalid SemVer format: $version"
+                return 1
+            fi
+        fi
+
+        echo "Valid SemVer format: $version"
+        return 0
+    else
+        echo "Invalid SemVer format: $version"
+        return 1
+    fi
+}
+
+#
+# Parse command line
+#
+no_patching=
+previous_version=$(git describe --tags $(git rev-list --tags --max-count=1))
+# Parse command line options
+while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
+    key="$1"
+    case $key in
+        --previous-version)
+            previous_version="$2"
+            shift 2
+            ;;
+        --help/-h)  usage
+            exit 0
+            ;;
+        *) break
+            ;;
+    esac
+done
+
+# Check that no extra args were provided
+if [ $# -ne 1 ]; then
+    if [ $# -lt 1 ]; then
+        echo -e "ERROR: too few arguments\n"
+    else
+        echo -e "ERROR: unknown arguments: ${@:3}\n"
+    fi
+    usage
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+release=$1
+shift 1
+
+container_image=nvcr.io/nvidia/k8s-device-plugin:$release
+
+#
+# Check/parse release number
+#
+if [ -z "$release" ]; then
+    echo -e "ERROR: missing RELEASE_VERSION\n"
+    usage
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# validate the release version
+if ! validate_semver $release; then
+    echo -e "ERROR: invalid RELEASE_VERSION\n"
+    exit 1
+fi
+semver=${release:1}
+
+# validate the previous version
+if ! validate_semver $previous_version; then
+    echo -e "ERROR: invalid PREVIOUS_VERSION\n"
+    exit 1
+fi
+pre_semver=${previous_version:1}
+
+#
+# Modify files in the repo to point to new release
+#
+# Darwin or Linux
+DOCKER="docker"
+if [[ "$(uname)" == "Darwin" ]]; then
+    SED="$DOCKER run -i --rm -v $(PWD):$(PWD) -w $(PWD) alpine:latest sed"
+else
+    SED="sed"
+fi
+
+# TODO: We need to ensure that this tooling also works on `release-*` branches.
+if [[ "$FORCE_BRANCH" != "yes" && "$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)" != "main" ]]; then
+    echo "Release scripts should be run on 'main'"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+git fetch
+git diff --quiet FETCH_HEAD
+if [[ $? -ne 0 ]]; then
+    echo "Local changes detected:"
+    git diff FETCH_HEAD | cat
+    echo "Exiting"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Create a release issue.
+echo "Creating release tracking issue"
+cat RELEASE.md | sed "s/{{ .VERSION }}/$release/g" | \
+    gh issue create -F - \
+        -R NVIDIA/cloud-native-team \
+        --title "Release nvidia-container-toolkit $release" \
+        --label release
+
+
+echo "Creating a version bump branch: bump-release-${release}"
+git checkout -f -b bump-release-${release}
+
+# Patch versions.mk
+echo Patching versions.mk to refer to $release
+$SED -i "s/^VERSION.*$/VERSION ?= $release/" versions.mk
+
+git add versions.mk
+git commit -s -m "Bump version for $release release"
+
+if [[ $release != *-rc.* ]]; then
+    # Patch README.md
+    echo Patching README.md to refer to $release
+    $SED -E -i -e "s/([^[:space:]])$previous_version([^[:alnum:]]|$)/\1$release\2/g" README.md
+    $SED -E -i -e "s/$pre_semver/$semver/g" README.md
+
+    git add -u README.md
+    git commit -s -m "Bump version to $release in README"
+else
+    echo "Skipping README update for prerelease version"
+fi
+
+echo "Please validated changes and create a pull request"
diff --git a/scripts/pull-packages.sh b/hack/pull-packages.sh
similarity index 95%
rename from scripts/pull-packages.sh
rename to hack/pull-packages.sh
index f13750ee..f39bd675 100755
--- a/scripts/pull-packages.sh
+++ b/hack/pull-packages.sh
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ if [[ -z ${DIST_DIR} ]]; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
-if [[ -e ${DIST_DIR} ]]; then
+if [[ x"${IGNORE_DIST_DIR}" != x"yes" && -e ${DIST_DIR} ]]; then
     echo "ERROR: The specified DIST_DIR ${DIST_DIR} exists."
     exit 1
 fi
diff --git a/scripts/release-packages.sh b/scripts/release-packages.sh
index 7b2e72bb..b144afa3 100755
--- a/scripts/release-packages.sh
+++ b/scripts/release-packages.sh
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ fi
 PACKAGE_CACHE=release-${VERSION}-${REPO}
 
 echo "Fetching packages with SHA '${SHA}' as tag '${VERSION}' to ${PACKAGE_CACHE}"
-${SCRIPTS_DIR}/pull-packages.sh \
+${SCRIPTS_DIR}/../hack/pull-packages.sh \
     ${IMAGE_NAME}:${IMAGE_TAG} \
     ${PACKAGE_CACHE}