diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 9b3a1113e..90f2fe22b 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -43,6 +43,9 @@ BASEOS_TAG ?= ""
 CEPH_DEVEL ?= false
 OSD_FLAVOR ?= "default"
 
+# Default to not doing prerelease (env var must have a value)
+PRERELEASE ?= false
+
 
 # ==============================================================================
 # Internal definitions
diff --git a/maint-lib/makelib.mk b/maint-lib/makelib.mk
index 16b6a5a3a..ddc4dd238 100644
--- a/maint-lib/makelib.mk
+++ b/maint-lib/makelib.mk
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ $(shell bash -c 'set -eu ; \
 	set_var IMAGES_TO_BUILD    "$(IMAGES_TO_BUILD)" ; \
 	set_var STAGING_DIR        "staging/$$CEPH_VERSION$$CEPH_POINT_RELEASE-$$DISTRO-$$DISTRO_VERSION-$$HOST_ARCH" ; \
 	set_var RELEASE            "$(RELEASE)" ; \
+	set_var PRERELEASE         "$(PRERELEASE)" ; \
 	\
 	daemon_base_img="$$(val_or_default "$(DAEMON_BASE_TAG)" \
 		"daemon-base:$(RELEASE)-$$CEPH_VERSION-$$DISTRO-$$BASEOS_TAG-$$HOST_ARCH")" ; \