diff --git a/commands/release.go b/commands/release.go
index 059f04eb8..ae97cadc7 100644
--- a/commands/release.go
+++ b/commands/release.go
@@ -28,13 +28,14 @@ func newReleaseCommand() simplecobra.Commander {
 		step     int
 		skipPush bool
 		try      bool
+		version  string
 	)
 
 	return &simpleCommand{
 		name:  "release",
 		short: "Release a new version of Hugo",
 		run: func(ctx context.Context, cd *simplecobra.Commandeer, r *rootCommand, args []string) error {
-			rel, err := releaser.New(skipPush, try, step)
+			rel, err := releaser.New(skipPush, try, step, version)
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
@@ -47,6 +48,7 @@ func newReleaseCommand() simplecobra.Commander {
 			cmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&skipPush, "skip-push", "", false, "skip pushing to remote")
 			cmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&try, "try", "", false, "no changes")
 			cmd.PersistentFlags().IntVarP(&step, "step", "", 0, "step to run (1: set new version 2: prepare next dev version)")
+			cmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&version, "version", "", "", "version to release (derived from branch name if not set)")
 			_ = cmd.RegisterFlagCompletionFunc("step", cobra.FixedCompletions([]string{"1", "2"}, cobra.ShellCompDirectiveNoFileComp))
 		},
 	}
diff --git a/common/version/version.go b/common/version/version.go
index de0f5ea6a..83bd4435e 100644
--- a/common/version/version.go
+++ b/common/version/version.go
@@ -44,6 +44,13 @@ var (
 	_ compare.Comparer = (*VersionString)(nil)
 )
 
+// IsAlphaBetaOrRC returns whether this version is an alpha, beta, or release candidate.
+func (v Version) IsAlphaBetaOrRC() bool {
+	s := strings.ToLower(v.Suffix)
+	// e.g. "alpha.1", "beta.2", "rc.3"
+	return strings.Contains(s, "alpha.") || strings.Contains(s, "beta.") || strings.Contains(s, "rc.")
+}
+
 func (v Version) String() string {
 	return version(v.Major, v.Minor, v.PatchLevel, v.Suffix)
 }
diff --git a/releaser/releaser.go b/releaser/releaser.go
index 74770dfbd..6e3fd3afa 100644
--- a/releaser/releaser.go
+++ b/releaser/releaser.go
@@ -30,28 +30,32 @@ import (
 const commitPrefix = "releaser:"
 
 // New initializes a ReleaseHandler.
-func New(skipPush, try bool, step int) (*ReleaseHandler, error) {
+// Note that version is only used for testig. In CI we derive the version from the branch name.
+func New(skipPush, try bool, step int, version string) (*ReleaseHandler, error) {
 	if step < 1 || step > 2 {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("step must be 1 or 2")
 	}
 
-	prefix := "release-"
-	branch, err := git("rev-parse", "--abbrev-ref", "HEAD")
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	branch = strings.TrimSpace(branch)
+	if version == "" {
+		prefix := "release-"
+		branch, err := git("rev-parse", "--abbrev-ref", "HEAD")
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		branch = strings.TrimSpace(branch)
 
-	if !strings.HasPrefix(branch, prefix) {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("branch %q is not a release branch", branch)
+		if !strings.HasPrefix(branch, prefix) {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("branch %q is not a release branch", branch)
+		}
+
+		version = strings.TrimPrefix(branch, prefix)
 	}
 
-	version := strings.TrimPrefix(branch, prefix)
 	version = strings.TrimPrefix(version, "v")
 
-	logf("Branch: %s|Version: v%s\n", branch, version)
+	logf("Version: v%s\n", version)
 
-	rh := &ReleaseHandler{branchVersion: version, skipPush: skipPush, try: try, step: step}
+	rh := &ReleaseHandler{version: version, skipPush: skipPush, try: try, step: step}
 
 	if try {
 		rh.git = func(args ...string) (string, error) {
@@ -70,7 +74,7 @@ func New(skipPush, try bool, step int) (*ReleaseHandler, error) {
 // go run -tags release main.go release --skip-publish --try -r 0.90.0
 // Or a variation of the above -- the skip-publish flag makes sure that any changes are performed to the local Git only.
 type ReleaseHandler struct {
-	branchVersion string
+	version string
 
 	// 1 or 2.
 	step int
@@ -89,8 +93,8 @@ func (r *ReleaseHandler) Run() error {
 	newVersion, finalVersion := r.calculateVersions()
 	version := newVersion.String()
 	tag := "v" + version
-	mainVersion := newVersion
-	mainVersion.PatchLevel = 0
+
+	logf("New version %q (prerelease: %t), final version %q\n", newVersion, newVersion.IsAlphaBetaOrRC(), finalVersion)
 
 	r.gitPull()
 
@@ -167,14 +171,15 @@ func (r *ReleaseHandler) bumpVersions(ver version.Version) error {
 }
 
 func (r ReleaseHandler) calculateVersions() (version.Version, version.Version) {
-	newVersion := version.MustParseVersion(r.branchVersion)
-	finalVersion := newVersion.Next()
-	finalVersion.PatchLevel = 0
-
-	if newVersion.Suffix != "-test" {
-		newVersion.Suffix = ""
+	newVersion := version.MustParseVersion(r.version)
+	var finalVersion version.Version
+	if newVersion.IsAlphaBetaOrRC() {
+		finalVersion = newVersion
+	} else {
+		finalVersion = newVersion.Next()
 	}
 
+	finalVersion.PatchLevel = 0
 	finalVersion.Suffix = "-DEV"
 
 	return newVersion, finalVersion