diff --git a/.github/workflows/release_drafter.yml b/.github/workflows/release_drafter.yml
index b23f830c3..649504b71 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release_drafter.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release_drafter.yml
@@ -126,9 +126,9 @@ jobs:
           issue-body: "Please approve or deny the release of opensearch-hadoop. **VERSION**: ${{ steps.get_data.outputs.version }} **TAG**: ${{ github.ref_name }}  **COMMIT**: ${{ github.sha }}"
 
       - 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 1fe344a58..f4be04185 100644
--- a/RELEASING.md
+++ b/RELEASING.md
@@ -34,10 +34,16 @@ 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. `v2.1.0`, and push it to the GitHub repo.
-1. The [release-drafter.yml](.github/workflows/release-drafter.yml) will be automatically kicked off and is responsible for drafting a new release on GitHub containing release artifacts.
-1. Before creating a draft release, this workflow creates a GitHub issue asking for approval from the [maintainers](MAINTAINERS.md). See sample [issue](https://github.com/gaiksaya/opensearch-java/issues/1). The maintainers need to approve in order to continue the workflow run.
-1. Once a release is drafted [opensearch-hadoop-release](https://build.ci.opensearch.org/job/opensearch-hadoop-release/) jenkins workflow is triggered. The artifacts will be automcatically signed and published to maven.
+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>
+```
+1. The [release_drafter.yml](.github/workflows/release_drafter.yml) will be automatically kicked off. Before creating a release, this workflow creates a GitHub issue asking for approval from the [maintainers](MAINTAINERS.md). The maintainers need to approve in order to continue the workflow run.
+1. Once approved, a pre-release will be created with the build artifacts attached.
+1. This pre-release triggers the [opensearch-hadoop-release](https://build.ci.opensearch.org/job/opensearch-hadoop-release/) jenkins workflow. The artifacts will be automatically signed and published to maven. Please note that the release workflow is triggered only if created release is in pre-release state.
+1. Once the above release workflow is successful, it creates a GitHub issue requesting maintainers to manually publish the pre-release to release on GitHub.
 1. Increment the version in [opensearch-hadoop-version.properties](./buildSrc/opensearch-hadoop-version.properties) to the next patch release, e.g. `2.1.1`.
 
 ## Snapshot Builds
diff --git a/jenkins/release.jenkinsFile b/jenkins/release.jenkinsFile
index f7a394d3a..6db928e85 100644
--- a/jenkins/release.jenkinsFile
+++ b/jenkins/release.jenkinsFile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-lib = library(identifier: 'jenkins@12.0.0', retriever: modernSCM([
+lib = library(identifier: 'jenkins@13.0.1', retriever: modernSCM([
     $class: 'GitSCMSource',
     remote: 'https://github.com/opensearch-project/opensearch-build-libraries.git',
 ]))
@@ -7,8 +7,7 @@ standardReleasePipelineWithGenericTrigger(
     overrideDockerImage: 'opensearchstaging/ci-runner:release-centos7-clients-v4',
     tokenIdCredential: 'jenkins-opensearch-hadoop-generic-webhook-token',
     causeString: 'A tag was cut on opensearch-project/opensearch-hadoop repository causing this workflow to run',
-    downloadReleaseAsset: true,
-    publishRelease: true) {
+    downloadReleaseAsset: true) {
         publishToMaven(
             signingArtifactsPath: "$WORKSPACE/maven/",
             mavenArtifactsPath: "$WORKSPACE/maven/",