diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index f3cc87f94c8..f4dbc33dc59 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -250,16 +250,11 @@ jobs:
     - name: Validate Assets for Release
       run: |
         ./scripts/validate-artifacts
-    
-    - name: Upload Assets to Release
-      uses: softprops/action-gh-release@b4309332981a82ec1c5618f44dd2e27cc8bfbfda # v3.0.0
-      with:
-        draft: true
-        files: |
-          dist/artifacts/k3s*
-          dist/artifacts/sha256sum*
+
+    - name: Create Pre-Release with Assets
       env:
-        GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+      run: gh release create -R "${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}" --prerelease --generate-notes "${GITHUB_REF_NAME}" "${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}"/dist/artifacts/k3s* "${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}"/dist/artifacts/sha256sum*
 
     - name: Update Image Registry for Prime/Staging
       if: ${{ github.repository_owner == 'k3s-io' }}