diff --git a/RELEASING.md b/RELEASING.md
index af5d1b862..a58656474 100644
--- a/RELEASING.md
+++ b/RELEASING.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ## Create a Release 
 
-1. Go to https://github.com/prometheus/client_java/releases
+1. Go to https://github.com/prometheus/client_java/releases/new
 2. Click on "Choose a tag", enter the tag name (e.g. `v0.1.0`), and click "Create a new tag".
 3. Click on "Generate release notes" to auto-generate the release notes based on the commits since the last release.
 4. Click on "Publish release".
diff --git a/scripts/build-release.sh b/scripts/build-release.sh
index ecbb07b8e..de3154591 100755
--- a/scripts/build-release.sh
+++ b/scripts/build-release.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ TAG=$1
 VERSION=${TAG#v}
 
 mvn versions:set -DnewVersion=$VERSION
+mvn install -DskipTests=true # to find the new version in the next step
 cd integration-tests/it-spring-boot-smoke-test
 mvn versions:set -DnewVersion=$VERSION
 mvn -B package -P release -Dmaven.test.skip=true