diff --git a/.github/workflows/post_release_version_bump.yml b/.github/workflows/post_release_version_bump.yml
index 983ccb1..3466974 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/post_release_version_bump.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/post_release_version_bump.yml
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ on:
         description: 'Version number (e.g., 1.0.1)'
         required: true
 
+permissions:
+  contents: write
+  pull-requests: write
+
 jobs:
   prepare-main:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -21,10 +25,13 @@ jobs:
           git config user.name "github-actions"
           git config user.email "github-actions@github.com"
 
+      - name: Extract Major.Minor Version and setup Env variable
+        run: |
+          echo "VERSION=${{ github.event.inputs.version }}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          echo "MAJOR_MINOR=$(echo ${{ github.event.inputs.version }} | sed -E 's/([0-9]+\.[0-9]+)\.[0-9]+/\1/')" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
       - name: Determine release branch and checkout
         run: |
-          VERSION="${{ github.event.inputs.version }}"
-          MAJOR_MINOR=$(echo $VERSION | awk -F. '{print $1"."$2}')
           RELEASE_BRANCH="release/${MAJOR_MINOR}.x"
           git fetch origin $RELEASE_BRANCH
           git checkout -b "prepare-main-for-next-dev-cycle-${VERSION}" origin/$RELEASE_BRANCH
@@ -32,16 +39,19 @@ jobs:
       - name: Update version to next development version in main
         run: |
           DEV_VERSION="${{ github.event.inputs.version }}.dev0"
-          sed -i 's/__version__ = ".*"/__version__ = "'$DEV_VERSION'"/' aws-opentelemetry-distro/src/amazon/opentelemetry/distro/version.py
+          sed -i "s/__version__ = ".*"/__version__ = "'$DEV_VERSION'"/" aws-opentelemetry-distro/src/amazon/opentelemetry/distro/version.py
           git add aws-opentelemetry-distro/src/amazon/opentelemetry/distro/version.py
           git commit -m "Prepare main for next development cycle: Update version to $DEV_VERSION"
           git push --set-upstream origin "prepare-main-for-next-dev-cycle-${VERSION}"
 
       - name: Create Pull Request to main
-        uses: repo-sync/pull-request@v2
-        with:
-          source_branch: "prepare-main-for-next-dev-cycle-${VERSION}"
-          destination_branch: 'main'
-          github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          pr_title: "Prepare main for next development cycle: Update version to $DEV_VERSION"
-          pr_body: "This PR prepares the main branch for the next development cycle by updating the version to $DEV_VERSION.\n\nBy submitting this pull request, I confirm that you can use, modify, copy, and redistribute this contribution, under the terms of your choice."
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          DEV_VERSION="${{ github.event.inputs.version }}.dev0"
+          gh pr create --title "Prepare main for next development cycle: Update version to $DEV_VERSION" \
+                       --body "This PR prepares the main branch for the next development cycle by updating the version to $DEV_VERSION.
+          
+          By submitting this pull request, I confirm that you can use, modify, copy, and redistribute this contribution, under the terms of your choice." \
+                       --head prepare-main-for-next-dev-cycle-${VERSION} \
+                       --base main
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pre_release_prepare.yml b/.github/workflows/pre_release_prepare.yml
index c41b879..521942a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pre_release_prepare.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pre_release_prepare.yml
@@ -46,7 +46,6 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Create pull request against the release branch
         env:
-          # not using secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN since pull requests from that token do not run workflows
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           gh pr create --title "Pre-release: Update version to ${VERSION}" \