diff --git a/.ci/release/post-release.sh b/.ci/release/post-release.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..e54662cdfea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.ci/release/post-release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# Bash strict mode
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Found current script directory
+RELATIVE_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd )"
+
+# Found project directory
+BASE_PROJECT="$(dirname $(dirname "${RELATIVE_DIR}"))"
+
+# Import dependencies
+source "${RELATIVE_DIR}/util.sh"
+
+# Constants
+BASE_URL="https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/co/elastic/apm/elastic-apm-agent"
+CF_FILE="${BASE_PROJECT}/cloudfoundry/index.yml"
+
+# Requirements
+check_version "${RELEASE_VERSION}"
+
+echo "Set next snapshot version"
+./mvnw -V versions:set -DprocessAllModules=true -DgenerateBackupPoms=false -DnextSnapshot=true
+
+# make script idempotent if release is already in CF descriptor
+set +e
+grep -e "^${RELEASE_VERSION}:" ${CF_FILE}
+[[ $? == 0 ]] && exit 0
+set -e
+echo "Update cloudfoundry version"
+echo "${RELEASE_VERSION}: ${BASE_URL}/${RELEASE_VERSION}/elastic-apm-agent-${RELEASE_VERSION}.jar" >> "${CF_FILE}"
diff --git a/.ci/release/pre-release.sh b/.ci/release/pre-release.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..ae981a3dc9e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.ci/release/pre-release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# Bash strict mode
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Found current script directory
+RELATIVE_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd )"
+
+# Found project directory
+BASE_PROJECT="$(dirname $(dirname "${RELATIVE_DIR}"))"
+
+# Import dependencies
+source "${RELATIVE_DIR}/util.sh"
+
+# Requirements
+check_version "${RELEASE_VERSION}"
+
+echo "Set release version"
+./mvnw -V versions:set -DprocessAllModules=true -DgenerateBackupPoms=false -DnewVersion="${RELEASE_VERSION}"
+
+echo "Prepare changelog for release"
+java "${BASE_PROJECT}/.ci/ReleaseChangelog.java" CHANGELOG.asciidoc "${RELEASE_VERSION}"
diff --git a/.ci/release/update_major_branch.sh b/.ci/release/update-major-branch.sh
similarity index 85%
rename from .ci/release/update_major_branch.sh
rename to .ci/release/update-major-branch.sh
index 8fa883878bd..146364f4984 100755
--- a/.ci/release/update_major_branch.sh
+++ b/.ci/release/update-major-branch.sh
@@ -62,3 +62,10 @@ git checkout --force ${checkout_options}
 
 echo -e "\n--- move local branch ${major_branch} to match tag ${tag}"
 git reset --hard ${tag}
+
+echo -e "\n--- create new branch with updates"
+git checkout -b "update-major-${v}"
+git push origin "update-major-${v}"
+
+echo -e "\n--- create PR to update major branch"
+gh pr create --title="post release v${v}: update major branch" --base "${major_branch}" --head "update-major-${v}" -b "post release v${v}"
diff --git a/.ci/release/update_cloudfoundry.sh b/.ci/release/update_cloudfoundry.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 436b5b23658..00000000000
--- a/.ci/release/update_cloudfoundry.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-
-set -euo pipefail
-source "$(dirname "${0}")/util.sh"
-
-REMOTE_NAME=origin
-BRANCH_NAME=main
-BASE_URL=https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/co/elastic/apm/elastic-apm-agent
-CF_FILE=cloudfoundry/index.yml
-
-check_version "${1:-}"
-v="${1:-}"
-
-echo -e "\n--- fetch & ensure clean state of ${REMOTE_NAME}/${BRANCH_NAME}"
-git fetch ${REMOTE_NAME} ${BRANCH_NAME}
-git checkout ${BRANCH_NAME}
-git reset --hard ${REMOTE_NAME}/${BRANCH_NAME}
-
-echo -e "\n--- update ${CF_FILE} if required"
-
-# make script idempotent if release is already in CF descriptor
-set +e
-grep -e "^${v}:" ${CF_FILE}
-[[ $? == 0 ]] && exit 0
-set -e
-
-echo "${v}: ${BASE_URL}/${v}/elastic-apm-agent-${v}.jar" >> ${CF_FILE}
-git commit ${CF_FILE} -m "Update cloudfoundry for ${v} release"
diff --git a/.ci/release/util.sh b/.ci/release/util.sh
index 8dd546ad931..15d4859f57b 100644
--- a/.ci/release/util.sh
+++ b/.ci/release/util.sh
@@ -3,14 +3,12 @@
 check_version() {
   v=${1:-}
 
-  if [[ "${v}" == "" ]]; then
-    echo "usage $0 <version>" # here $0 will be the calling script
-    echo "where <version> in format '1.2.3'"
+  if [ -z "${v}" ]; then
+    >&2 echo "The environment variable 'RELEASE_VERSION' isn't defined"
     exit 1
   fi
-
-  if [[ ! "$v" =~ ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$ ]]; then
-    echo "invalid version format '${v}'"
+  if [[ ! "${v}" =~ ^([0-9]+)\.([0-9]+)\.([0-9]+)$ ]]; then
+    echo "The environment variable 'RELEASE_VERSION' should respect SemVer format"
     exit 1
   fi
 }
diff --git a/.ci/release/wait_maven_artifact_published.sh b/.ci/release/wait_maven_artifact_published.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 7c12d96c221..00000000000
--- a/.ci/release/wait_maven_artifact_published.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-
-set -euo pipefail
-source "$(dirname "${0}")/util.sh"
-
-# returns '0' (zero) status code when artifact exists
-# return non-zero status when artifact does not exists or unable to execute request
-
-check_version "${1:-}"
-v="${1:-}"
-
-full_url="https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/co/elastic/apm/elastic-apm-agent/${v}/elastic-apm-agent-${v}.pom"
-curl -fs "${full_url}" 2>&1 > /dev/null
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pre-post-release.yml b/.github/workflows/pre-post-release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..997077aec4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/pre-post-release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+---
+
+name: Pre/Post Release
+    
+on:
+  workflow_call:
+    inputs:
+      ref:
+        description: 'Branch or tag ref to run the workflow on'
+        type: string
+        required: true
+        default: 'main'
+      version:
+        description: 'The version to release (e.g. 1.2.3). This workflow will automatically perform the required version bumps'
+        type: string
+        required: true
+      phase:
+        description: 'Pre or post release phase'
+        type: string # valid values are 'pre' or 'post'
+        required: true
+
+env:
+  RELEASE_VERSION: ${{ inputs.version }}
+  BRANCH_NAME: ${{ inputs.phase }}-release-v${{ inputs.version }}
+  
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+  
+jobs:
+  validate-tag:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      - name: Validate release tag does not exist in repo
+        uses: ./.github/workflows/validate-tag
+        with:
+          tag: v${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}
+
+  create-pr:
+    name: "Bump versions and create PR"
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs:
+      - validate-tag
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+    steps:
+      - uses: elastic/apm-pipeline-library/.github/actions/github-token@current
+        with:
+          url: ${{ secrets.VAULT_ADDR }}
+          roleId: ${{ secrets.VAULT_ROLE_ID }}
+          secretId: ${{ secrets.VAULT_SECRET_ID }}
+  
+      - uses: elastic/apm-pipeline-library/.github/actions/setup-git@current
+        with:
+          username: ${{ env.GIT_USER }}
+          email: ${{ env.GIT_EMAIL }}
+          token: ${{ env.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+  
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ inputs.ref }}
+          token: ${{ env.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+  
+      - name: Create the release tag (post phase)
+        if: inputs.phase == 'post'
+        run: |
+          git tag "v${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}"
+          git push origin "v${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}"
+  
+      - name: Create a ${{ inputs.phase }} release branch
+        run: git checkout -b ${{ env.BRANCH_NAME }}
+  
+      - name: Perform pre release changes
+        if: inputs.phase == 'pre'
+        uses: ./.github/workflows/maven-goal-jdk
+        with:
+          command: ./.ci/release/pre-release.sh
+
+      - name: Perform post release changes
+        if: inputs.phase == 'post'
+        uses: ./.github/workflows/maven-goal
+        with:
+          command: ./.ci/release/post-release.sh
+
+      - name: Push the ${{ inputs.phase }} release branch
+        run: |
+          git add --all
+          git commit -m "${{ inputs.phase }} release: elastic-apm-agent v${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}"
+          git push origin ${{ env.BRANCH_NAME }}
+  
+      - name: Create the ${{ inputs.phase }} release PR
+        run: gh pr create --title="${{ inputs.phase }} release v${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}" --base main --head ${{ env.BRANCH_NAME }} -b "${{ inputs.phase }} release v${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}"
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ env.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pre-release.yml b/.github/workflows/pre-release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c37de5cf436
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/pre-release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+---
+
+name: Pre release
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      ref:
+        description: 'Branch or tag ref to run the workflow on'
+        required: true
+        default: 'main'
+      version:
+        description: 'The version to release (e.g. 1.2.3). This workflow will automatically perform the required version bumps'
+        required: true
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+      
+concurrency:
+  group: ${{ github.workflow }}
+      
+jobs:
+  pre-release:
+    name: "Bump versions and create PR"
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/pre-post-release.yml
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+    with:
+      ref: ${{ inputs.ref }}
+      version: ${{ inputs.version }}
+      phase: 'pre'
+    secrets: inherit
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index d15ea5f5bca..f6124432a13 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -5,20 +5,13 @@ name: release
 on:
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
-      branch:
-        description: 'The branch to release'
+      ref:
+        description: 'Branch or tag ref to run the workflow on'
         required: true
-        default: 'main'
+        default: "main"
       version:
         description: 'The version to release (e.g. 1.2.3). This workflow will automatically perform the required version bumps'
         required: true
-      update_changelog:
-        description: |
-          If enabled, everything in the changelog from the "Unreleased" section will be automatically moved to a new section for the new release.
-          If disabled, the changelog needs to be prepared for the release manually before triggering this workflow.
-        type: boolean
-        required: true
-        default: true
       skip_preparation:
         description: |
           If enabled, the version bump, release notes update and tag creation will be skipped.
@@ -39,59 +32,47 @@ on:
         default: false
         type: boolean
 
-env:
-  TAG_NAME: v${{ inputs.version }}
-
 permissions:
   contents: read
 
 concurrency:
   group: ${{ github.workflow }}
 
+env:
+  RELEASE_VERSION: ${{ inputs.version }}
+
 jobs:
-  prepare_release:
-    permissions:
-      contents: write
-    name: "Changelog and Version Bump"
-    if: ${{ ! inputs.skip_preparation }}
+  validate-tag:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - uses: elastic/apm-pipeline-library/.github/actions/github-token@current
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
-          url: ${{ secrets.VAULT_ADDR }}
-          roleId: ${{ secrets.VAULT_ROLE_ID }}
-          secretId: ${{ secrets.VAULT_SECRET_ID }}
-      - uses: elastic/apm-pipeline-library/.github/actions/setup-git@current
+          ref: ${{ inputs.ref }}
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      - name: Validate tag does not exist on current commit
+        uses: ./.github/workflows/validate-tag
         with:
-          username: ${{ env.GIT_USER }}
-          email: ${{ env.GIT_EMAIL }}
-          token: ${{ env.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          ref: ${{ inputs.branch }}
-          token: ${{ env.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-      - name: Install JDK and mvn clean
-        uses: ./.github/workflows/maven-goal
-        with:
-          command: ./mvnw clean
-      - name: Prepare changelog for release
-        if: ${{ inputs.update_changelog && ! inputs.dry_run }}
+          tag: v${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}
+      - name: Validate tag match current version
         run: |
-          java .ci/ReleaseChangelog.java CHANGELOG.asciidoc ${{ inputs.version }}
-          git commit -m "Prepare changelog for release ${{ inputs.version }}" CHANGELOG.asciidoc
-      - name: Bump version and add git tag
-        if: ${{ ! inputs.dry_run }}
-        run: ./mvnw release:prepare -B -DpushChanges=false "-Darguments=-DskipTests -Dmaven.javadoc.skip=true" -DreleaseVersion=${{ inputs.version }}
-      - name: Push changes
-        if: ${{ ! inputs.dry_run }}
-        run: git push --atomic origin ${{ inputs.branch }} ${{ env.TAG_NAME }}
+          if [ "$(mvn -q help:evaluate -Dexpression=project.version -DforceStdout)" != "${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}" ]; then
+            echo "Tag should match pom.xml project.version"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+      - name: Validate version is a release version
+        run: |
+          if [[ "$(./mvnw -q help:evaluate -Dexpression=project.version -DforceStdout)" =~ "-SNAPSHOT" ]]; then
+            echo "This is a snapshot version"
+            exit 1
+          fi
 
-  maven_central_deploy:
+  maven-central-deploy:
     name: "Deploy to Maven Central (Buildkite)"
     if: ${{ ! inputs.skip_maven_deploy && ( inputs.skip_preparation || success() ) }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs:
-      - prepare_release
+      - validate-tag
     steps:
       - id: buildkite
         continue-on-error: true
@@ -102,61 +83,29 @@ jobs:
           vaultRoleId: ${{ secrets.VAULT_ROLE_ID }}
           vaultSecretId: ${{ secrets.VAULT_SECRET_ID }}
           pipeline: apm-agent-java-release
-          pipelineCommit: ${{ env.TAG_NAME }}
+          pipelineCommit: ${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}
           waitFor: true
           printBuildLogs: false
           buildEnvVars: |
             dry_run=${{ inputs.dry_run || 'false' }}
 
-  await_artifact_on_maven_central:
+  await-maven-central-artifact:
     name: "Wait for artifacts to be available on maven central"
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Await artifacts published in maven central
-        if: ${{ ! inputs.dry_run }}
-        shell: bash
-        timeout-minutes: 120
-        run: |
-          until .ci/release/wait_maven_artifact_published.sh ${{ inputs.version }}
-          do
-            echo "Artifacts not found on maven central. Sleeping 30 seconds, retrying afterwards"
-            sleep 30s
-          done
-
-  update_major_branch:
-    name: "Update Major Branch"
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs:
-      - await_artifact_on_maven_central
-    permissions:
-      contents: write
+      - validate-tag
     steps:
-      - uses: elastic/apm-pipeline-library/.github/actions/github-token@current
-        with:
-          url: ${{ secrets.VAULT_ADDR }}
-          roleId: ${{ secrets.VAULT_ROLE_ID }}
-          secretId: ${{ secrets.VAULT_SECRET_ID }}
-      - uses: elastic/apm-pipeline-library/.github/actions/setup-git@current
-        with:
-          username: ${{ env.GIT_USER }}
-          email: ${{ env.GIT_EMAIL }}
-          token: ${{ env.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: elastic/apm-pipeline-library/.github/actions/await-maven-artifact@current
         with:
-          ref: ${{ env.TAG_NAME }}
-          token: ${{ env.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-      - name: Update major branch
-        run: .ci/release/update_major_branch.sh ${{ inputs.version }}
-      - name: Push changes
-        if: ${{ ! inputs.dry_run }}
-        run: git push -f origin "$(echo '${{ inputs.version }}' | sed -E 's/\..+/.x/')"
+          groupid: 'co.elastic.apm'
+          artifactid: 'elastic-apm-agent'
+          version: ${{ inputs.version }}
 
-  update_cloudfoundry:
-    name: "Update Cloudfoundry"
+  update-major-branch:
+    name: "Update Major Branch"
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs:
-      - await_artifact_on_maven_central
+      - await-maven-central-artifact
     permissions:
       contents: write
     steps:
@@ -172,26 +121,22 @@ jobs:
           token: ${{ env.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
-          ref: ${{ inputs.branch }}
+          ref: ${{ inputs.ref }}
           token: ${{ env.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-      - name: "Update Cloudfoundry index.yml file"
-        shell: bash
-        run: .ci/release/update_cloudfoundry.sh ${{ inputs.version }}
-      - name: Push changes
-        if: ${{ ! inputs.dry_run }}
-        run: git push origin ${{ inputs.branch }}
+      - name: Update major branch
+        run: .ci/release/update-major-branch.sh ${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}
 
-  build_and_push_docker_images:
+  build-and-push-docker-images:
     name: "Build and push docker images"
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs:
-      - await_artifact_on_maven_central
+      - await-maven-central-artifact
     env:
       SONATYPE_FALLBACK: 1
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
-          ref: ${{ env.TAG_NAME }}
+          ref: ${{ inputs.ref }}
           fetch-depth: 0 # Load entire history as it is required for the push-script
       - uses: elastic/apm-pipeline-library/.github/actions/docker-login@current
         with:
@@ -208,11 +153,11 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
         run: ./scripts/docker-release/push_docker.sh
 
-  publish_aws_lambda:
+  publish-aws-lambda:
     name: "Publish AWS Lambda"
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs:
-      - await_artifact_on_maven_central
+      - await-maven-central-artifact
     outputs:
       arn_content: ${{ steps.arn_output.outputs.arn_content }}
     env:
@@ -222,7 +167,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
-          ref: ${{ env.TAG_NAME }}
+          ref: ${{ inputs.ref }}
       - name: Build Lambda-layer zip using agent from maven-central
         uses: ./.github/workflows/maven-goal
         with:
@@ -240,7 +185,7 @@ jobs:
         if: ${{ ! inputs.dry_run }}
         run: |
           # Convert v1.2.3 to ver-1-2-3
-          VERSION=${TAG_NAME/v/ver-}
+          VERSION=${RELEASE_VERSION/v/ver-}
           VERSION=${VERSION//./-}
           
           ELASTIC_LAYER_NAME="elastic-apm-java-${VERSION}" .ci/publish-aws.sh
@@ -257,11 +202,11 @@ jobs:
           cat .ci/.arn-file.md >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           echo 'ARN_CONTENT_EOF' >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
-  create_github_release:
+  create-github-release:
     name: "Create GitHub Release"
     needs:
-      - publish_aws_lambda
-      - update_major_branch
+      - publish-aws-lambda
+      - update-major-branch
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     if: ${{ ! inputs.dry_run }}
     permissions:
@@ -269,39 +214,52 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
-          ref: ${{ env.TAG_NAME }}
+          ref: ${{ inputs.ref }}
       - name: Await release-notes published
         shell: bash
         timeout-minutes: 120
         run: |
-          until .ci/release/wait_release_notes_published.sh ${{ inputs.version }}
+          until .ci/release/wait_release_notes_published.sh ${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}
           do
             echo "Release notes not published yet. Sleeping 30 seconds, retrying afterwards"
             sleep 30s
           done
       - name: Compute major.x branch
         id: get_dotx_branch
-        run: echo "dotx_branch=$(echo '${{ inputs.version }}' | sed -E 's/\..+/.x/')" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        run: echo "dotx_branch=$(echo '${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}' | sed -E 's/\..+/.x/')" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
       - name: Create GitHub Release
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
         run: |
-          gh release create ${{ env.TAG_NAME }} \
-            --title="Release ${{ inputs.version }}" \
-            --notes="[Release Notes for ${{ inputs.version }}](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/apm/agent/java/current/release-notes-${{ steps.get_dotx_branch.outputs.dotx_branch }}.html#release-notes-${{ inputs.version }})
-            ${{ needs.publish_aws_lambda.outputs.arn_content }}"
+          gh release create ${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }} \
+            --title="Release ${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}" \
+            --notes="[Release Notes for ${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/apm/agent/java/current/release-notes-${{ steps.get_dotx_branch.outputs.dotx_branch }}.html#release-notes-${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }})
+            ${{ needs.publish-aws-lambda.outputs.arn_content }}"
+
+  post-release:
+    name: "Bump versions and create PR"
+    needs:
+      - await-maven-central-artifact
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/pre-post-release.yml
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+    if: inputs.dry_run == false
+    with:
+      ref: ${{ inputs.ref }}
+      version: ${{ inputs.version }}
+      phase: 'post'
+    secrets: inherit
 
   notify:
     if: ${{ always() && ! inputs.dry_run }}
     needs:
-      - prepare_release
-      - maven_central_deploy
-      - await_artifact_on_maven_central
-      - update_major_branch
-      - update_cloudfoundry
-      - build_and_push_docker_images
-      - publish_aws_lambda
-      - create_github_release
+      - maven-central-deploy
+      - await-maven-central-artifact
+      - update-major-branch
+      - build-and-push-docker-images
+      - publish-aws-lambda
+      - post-release
+      - create-github-release
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - id: check
diff --git a/.github/workflows/validate-tag/action.yml b/.github/workflows/validate-tag/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1cdb8ef5c36
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/validate-tag/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+---
+
+name: validate-tag
+description: Validate tag format
+    
+inputs:
+  tag:
+    description: 'Tag to validate'
+    required: true
+    
+runs:
+  using: "composite"
+  steps:
+    - name: Validate tag does not exist on current commit
+      id: validate-tag
+      shell: 'bash'
+      run: |
+        if ! [ $(echo "${{ inputs.tag }}" | grep -P "(\d{1,2})\.(\d{1,2})\.(\d{1,2})") ]; then
+          echo "Tag should be a SemVer format"
+          exit 1
+        fi
+        if [ $(git tag -l "${{ inputs.tag }}") ]; then
+          echo "The tag ${{ inputs.tag }} already exists"
+          exit 1
+        fi
diff --git a/.mvn/maven.config b/.mvn/maven.config
index f50bb0f948b..7c3456d7e48 100644
--- a/.mvn/maven.config
+++ b/.mvn/maven.config
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
--V
 -B
 -Dorg.slf4j.simpleLogger.log.org.apache.maven.cli.transfer.Slf4jMavenTransferListener=warn
 -Dhttps.protocols=TLSv1.2
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 55daeaac733..2ec5eced20b 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -380,17 +380,9 @@
     <build>
         <plugins>
             <plugin>
-                <artifactId>maven-release-plugin</artifactId>
-                <configuration>
-                    <useReleaseProfile>false</useReleaseProfile>
-                    <releaseProfiles>gpg</releaseProfiles>
-                    <autoVersionSubmodules>true</autoVersionSubmodules>
-                    <tagNameFormat>v@{project.version}</tagNameFormat>
-                    <checkModificationExcludes>
-                        <checkModificationExclude>**/apm-agent-benchmarks/src/main/resources/**</checkModificationExclude>
-                        <checkModificationExclude>**/apm-agent-plugins/apm-profiling-plugin/src/main/resources/**</checkModificationExclude>
-                    </checkModificationExcludes>
-                </configuration>
+                <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
+                <artifactId>versions-maven-plugin</artifactId>
+                <version>2.16.2</version>
             </plugin>
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.sonatype.plugins</groupId>