diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish.yaml b/.github/workflows/publish.yaml
index 80f92ab..3155c7d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish.yaml
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ jobs:
           fi
           head -n $boilerplate_linecount $f > $tempdir/out
           if ! diff -q $tempdir/out $boilerplate >/dev/null; then
-            >&1 echo "Error: incorrect license header: $f."
+            >&1 echo "Error: incorrect license header found in $f."
             errors=$((errors+1))
           fi
           rm -f $tempdir/out
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ jobs:
         fi
 
         if [ $(semver compare $new_version $old_version) -lt 0 ]; then
-          echo "Target appVersion ($new_version) is lower than current appVersion ($old_version); skipping update."
+          echo "Target appVersion ($new_version) is lower than current appVersion ($old_version); skipping update ..."
           exit 0
         fi
 
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ jobs:
         if [ "$version_bump" != major ] && [ "$version_bump" != minor ]; then
           version_bump=patch
         fi
-        echo "Performing chart version bump: $version_bump."
+        echo "Performing chart version bump: $version_bump ..."
 
         echo "Updating custom resource definitions ($chart_directory/crds) ..."
         rm -rf $chart_directory/crds
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ jobs:
         perl -pi -e "s#^appVersion:.*#appVersion: $new_version#g" $chart_directory/Chart.yaml
 
         if [ -z "$(git status --porcelain)" ]; then
-          echo "Nothing has changed; skipping commit/push."
+          echo "Nothing has changed; skipping commit/push ..."
           exit 0
         fi
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index affbb20..409fd1e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -72,36 +72,40 @@ jobs:
               exit 1
           esac
           if [ -z "$current_version" ]; then
+            version=${INITIAL_TAG/#$TAG_PREFIX/}
             tag=$INITIAL_TAG
           else
-            tag=$TAG_PREFIX$(semver bump $version_bump $current_version)
+            version=$(semver bump $version_bump $current_version)
+            tag=$TAG_PREFIX$version
           fi
         else
           if [[ $desired_version =~ ^$TAG_PREFIX([0-9].*)$ ]]; then
+            version=${BASH_REMATCH[1]}
             tag=$desired_version
-            desired_version=${BASH_REMATCH[1]}
           else
             >&1 echo "Invalid input: desired-version ($desired_version) should start with $TAG_PREFIX."
             exit 1
           fi
-          if [ "$(semver validate $desired_version)" != valid ]; then
-            >&1 echo "Invalid input: desired-version ($desired_version) is not a valid semantic version."
+          if [ "$(semver validate $version)" != valid ]; then
+            >&1 echo "Invalid input: desired-version ($version) is not a valid semantic version."
             exit 1
           fi
-          if [ "$(semver compare $desired_version $current_version)" -le 0 ]; then
-            >&1 echo "Invalid input: desired-version ($desired_version) should be higher than current version ($current_version)."
+          if [ "$(semver compare $version $current_version)" -le 0 ]; then
+            >&1 echo "Invalid input: desired-version ($version) should be higher than current version ($current_version)."
             exit 1
           fi
         fi
 
-        echo "Target tag: $tag."
+        echo "Target version: $version"
+        echo "Target tag: $tag"
+        echo "version=$version" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
         echo "tag=$tag" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
     - name: Determine target commit
       id: get_target_commit
       run: |
         sha=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
-        echo "Target commit: $sha."
+        echo "Target commit: $sha"
         echo "sha=$sha" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
     - name: Create Release