diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-drafter.yml b/.github/workflows/release-drafter.yml
index d720afb..8f21765 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-drafter.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-drafter.yml
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ jobs:
   draft-a-release:
     name: Draft a release
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+      issues: write
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@ee0669bd1cc54295c223e0bb666b733df41de1c5 # v2
       - id: get_data
@@ -39,8 +42,9 @@ jobs:
           tar -cvf artifacts.tar.gz *-installer
 
       - name: Draft a release
-        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@de2c0eb89ae2a093876385947365aca7b0e5f844 # v1
+        uses: ncipollo/release-action@339a81892b84b4eeb0f6e744e4574d79d0d9b8dd
         with:
-          draft: true
-          generate_release_notes: true
-          files: artifacts.tar.gz
+          immutableCreate: true
+          generateReleaseNotes: true
+          artifacts: "artifacts.tar.gz"
+          prerelease: true
diff --git a/RELEASING.md b/RELEASING.md
index 8ee6cce..5b3e481 100644
--- a/RELEASING.md
+++ b/RELEASING.md
@@ -33,8 +33,13 @@ Repositories create consistent release labels, such as `v1.0.0`, `v1.1.0` and `v
 
 The release process is standard across repositories in this org and is run by a release manager volunteering from amongst [maintainers](MAINTAINERS.md).
 
-1. Create a tag, e.g. 1.0.0.0, and push it to this GitHub repository.
-2. The [release-drafter.yml](.github/workflows/release-drafter.yml) will be automatically kicked off and a draft release will be created.
-3. This draft release triggers the [jenkins release workflow](https://build.ci.opensearch.org/job/sql-odbc-release) as a result of which the driver is released and published on artifacts (https://artifacts.opensearch.org/opensearch-clients/odbc/). Please note, that the release workflow is triggered only if created release is in draft state. Manual update on the [download page](https://opensearch.org/downloads.html#drivers) is required after that, see [website repo](https://github.com/opensearch-project/project-website/tree/main/_artifacts/opensearch-drivers).
-4. Once the above release workflow is successful, the drafted release on GitHub is published automatically.
+1. Identify the commit to release and create a tag on it, pushing to the upstream repo:
+```
+git fetch origin
+git tag <tag-name> <commit-sha>
+git push origin <tag-name>
+```
+2. The [release-drafter.yml](.github/workflows/release-drafter.yml) will be automatically kicked off and a pre-release will be created.
+3. This pre-release triggers the [jenkins release workflow](https://build.ci.opensearch.org/job/sql-odbc-release) as a result of which the driver is released and published on artifacts (https://artifacts.opensearch.org/opensearch-clients/odbc/). Please note that the release workflow is triggered only if created release is in pre-release state. Manual update on the [download page](https://opensearch.org/downloads.html#drivers) is required after that, see [website repo](https://github.com/opensearch-project/project-website/tree/main/_artifacts/opensearch-drivers).
+4. Once the above release workflow is successful, it creates a GitHub issue requesting maintainers to manually publish the pre-release to release on GitHub.
 5. Increment `DRIVER_PACKAGE_VERSION` in [src/CMakeLists.txt](src/CMakeLists.txt) to the next iteration, e.g. 1.0.0.1 See [example](https://github.com/opensearch-project/sql-odbc/pull/47).
diff --git a/jenkins/release.jenkinsFile b/jenkins/release.jenkinsFile
index cd5a5a5..2102b0f 100644
--- a/jenkins/release.jenkinsFile
+++ b/jenkins/release.jenkinsFile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-lib = library(identifier: 'jenkins@4.4.0', retriever: modernSCM([
+lib = library(identifier: 'jenkins@13.0.1', retriever: modernSCM([
     $class: 'GitSCMSource',
     remote: 'https://github.com/opensearch-project/opensearch-build-libraries.git',
 ]))
@@ -7,8 +7,7 @@ standardReleasePipelineWithGenericTrigger(
     overrideDockerImage: 'opensearchstaging/ci-runner:release-centos7-clients-v4',
     tokenIdCredential: 'jenkins-sql-odbc-generic-webhook-token',
     causeString: 'A tag was cut on opensearch-project/sql-odbc repository causing this workflow to run',
-    downloadReleaseAsset: true,
-    publishRelease: true) {
+    downloadReleaseAsset: true) {
                         publishToArtifactsProdBucket(
                             assumedRoleName: 'sql-odbc-upload-role',
                             source: "${WORKSPACE}/windows32-installer/OpenSearch-SQL-ODBC-Driver-32-bit-${tag}-Windows.msi",