diff --git a/pkg/release/publish.go b/pkg/release/publish.go
index 4b50bd498e1..87fb3f2b6c4 100644
--- a/pkg/release/publish.go
+++ b/pkg/release/publish.go
@@ -282,7 +282,17 @@ func (p *Publisher) VerifyLatestUpdate(
 		return false, fmt.Errorf("invalid GCS version format %s", gcsVersion)
 	}
 
-	if sv.LTE(gcsSemverVersion) {
+	// The version format that we use is:
+	//   - Stable: "v<major>.<minor>.<patch>-<number-of-commits>+<build-number>"
+	//   - Prerelease: "v<major>.<minor>.<patch>-<prerelease>.<number-of-commits>+<build-number>"
+	// blang/semver library considers "-<number-of-commits>" part as the prerelease part even though
+	// the version is stable. This is causing issues when we're supposed to bump the version marker
+	// from rc to stable.
+	// blang/semver models prerelease as a slice of prereleases, so stable releases
+	// are going to have one element (the number of commits), and prereleases are going to have three elements
+	// (alpha/beta/rc, number of prerelease, number of commits).
+	// We can use this to determine when we're switching from rc to stable and act accordingly.
+	if sv.LTE(gcsSemverVersion) && len(sv.Pre) >= len(gcsSemverVersion.Pre) {
 		logrus.Infof(
 			"Not updating version, because %s <= %s", version, gcsVersion,
 		)
diff --git a/pkg/release/publish_test.go b/pkg/release/publish_test.go
index f76d1709cbd..ed41c0d9580 100644
--- a/pkg/release/publish_test.go
+++ b/pkg/release/publish_test.go
@@ -325,3 +325,181 @@ func TestPublishReleaseNotesIndex(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func TestVerifyLatestUpdate(t *testing.T) {
+	// err := errors.New("")
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		prepare     func(*releasefakes.FakePublisherClient, string)
+		version     string
+		gcsVersion  string
+		needsUpdate bool
+		shouldError bool
+	}{
+		{ // success same version
+			prepare: func(mock *releasefakes.FakePublisherClient, gcsVersion string) {
+				mock.NormalizePath("", "")
+				mock.GSUtilOutputReturns(gcsVersion, nil)
+			},
+			version:     "v1.24.0",
+			gcsVersion:  "v1.24.0",
+			needsUpdate: false,
+			shouldError: false,
+		},
+
+		{ // success version > gcsVersion (patch)
+			prepare: func(mock *releasefakes.FakePublisherClient, gcsVersion string) {
+				mock.NormalizePath("", "")
+				mock.GSUtilOutputReturns(gcsVersion, nil)
+			},
+			version:     "v1.24.1",
+			gcsVersion:  "v1.24.0",
+			needsUpdate: true,
+			shouldError: false,
+		},
+		{ // success version < gcsVersion (patch)
+			prepare: func(mock *releasefakes.FakePublisherClient, gcsVersion string) {
+				mock.NormalizePath("", "")
+				mock.GSUtilOutputReturns(gcsVersion, nil)
+			},
+			version:     "v1.24.0",
+			gcsVersion:  "v1.24.1",
+			needsUpdate: false,
+			shouldError: false,
+		},
+
+		{ // success version > gcsVersion (minor)
+			prepare: func(mock *releasefakes.FakePublisherClient, gcsVersion string) {
+				mock.NormalizePath("", "")
+				mock.GSUtilOutputReturns(gcsVersion, nil)
+			},
+			version:     "v1.25.0",
+			gcsVersion:  "v1.24.0",
+			needsUpdate: true,
+			shouldError: false,
+		},
+		{ // success version < gcsVersion (minor)
+			prepare: func(mock *releasefakes.FakePublisherClient, gcsVersion string) {
+				mock.NormalizePath("", "")
+				mock.GSUtilOutputReturns(gcsVersion, nil)
+			},
+			version:     "v1.23.0",
+			gcsVersion:  "v1.24.0",
+			needsUpdate: false,
+			shouldError: false,
+		},
+
+		{ // success version = gcsVersion (with build version)
+			prepare: func(mock *releasefakes.FakePublisherClient, gcsVersion string) {
+				mock.NormalizePath("", "")
+				mock.GSUtilOutputReturns(gcsVersion, nil)
+			},
+			version:     "v1.28.0-7+c4e17abb04728e",
+			gcsVersion:  "v1.28.0-7+c4e17abb04728e",
+			needsUpdate: false,
+			shouldError: false,
+		},
+		{ // success version > gcsVersion (with build version)
+			prepare: func(mock *releasefakes.FakePublisherClient, gcsVersion string) {
+				mock.NormalizePath("", "")
+				mock.GSUtilOutputReturns(gcsVersion, nil)
+			},
+			version:     "v1.28.0-9+aaaaaabb04728e",
+			gcsVersion:  "v1.28.0-7+c4e17abb04728e",
+			needsUpdate: true,
+			shouldError: false,
+		},
+		{ // success version < gcsVersion (with build version)
+			prepare: func(mock *releasefakes.FakePublisherClient, gcsVersion string) {
+				mock.NormalizePath("", "")
+				mock.GSUtilOutputReturns(gcsVersion, nil)
+			},
+			version:     "v1.28.0-7+c4e17abb04728e",
+			gcsVersion:  "v1.28.0-9+aaaaaabb04728e",
+			needsUpdate: false,
+			shouldError: false,
+		},
+		{ // success version > gcsVersion (with build version)
+			prepare: func(mock *releasefakes.FakePublisherClient, gcsVersion string) {
+				mock.NormalizePath("", "")
+				mock.GSUtilOutputReturns(gcsVersion, nil)
+			},
+			version:     "v1.28.1-1+aaaaaabb04728e",
+			gcsVersion:  "v1.28.0-7+c4e17abb04728e",
+			needsUpdate: true,
+			shouldError: false,
+		},
+		{ // success version = gcsVersion (with build version, prerelease)
+			prepare: func(mock *releasefakes.FakePublisherClient, gcsVersion string) {
+				mock.NormalizePath("", "")
+				mock.GSUtilOutputReturns(gcsVersion, nil)
+			},
+			version:     "v1.28.0-rc.1.9+3fb5377b25ec51",
+			gcsVersion:  "v1.28.0-rc.1.9+3fb5377b25ec51",
+			needsUpdate: false,
+			shouldError: false,
+		},
+		{ // success version > gcsVersion (with build version, prerelease)
+			prepare: func(mock *releasefakes.FakePublisherClient, gcsVersion string) {
+				mock.NormalizePath("", "")
+				mock.GSUtilOutputReturns(gcsVersion, nil)
+			},
+			version:     "v1.28.0-rc.1.10+3fb5377b25ec51",
+			gcsVersion:  "v1.28.0-rc.1.9+3fb5377b25ec51",
+			needsUpdate: true,
+			shouldError: false,
+		},
+		{ // success version < gcsVersion (with build version, prerelease)
+			prepare: func(mock *releasefakes.FakePublisherClient, gcsVersion string) {
+				mock.NormalizePath("", "")
+				mock.GSUtilOutputReturns(gcsVersion, nil)
+			},
+			version:     "v1.28.0-rc.1.9+3fb5377b25ec51",
+			gcsVersion:  "v1.28.0-rc.1.10+3fb5377b25ec51",
+			needsUpdate: false,
+			shouldError: false,
+		},
+		{ // success version < gcsVersion (with build version, prerelease)
+			prepare: func(mock *releasefakes.FakePublisherClient, gcsVersion string) {
+				mock.NormalizePath("", "")
+				mock.GSUtilOutputReturns(gcsVersion, nil)
+			},
+			version:     "v1.28.0-beta.1.9+3fb5377b25ec51",
+			gcsVersion:  "v1.28.0-rc.1.9+3fb5377b25ec51",
+			needsUpdate: false,
+			shouldError: false,
+		},
+		{ // success version > gcsVersion (with build version, prerelease)
+			prepare: func(mock *releasefakes.FakePublisherClient, gcsVersion string) {
+				mock.NormalizePath("", "")
+				mock.GSUtilOutputReturns(gcsVersion, nil)
+			},
+			version:     "v1.28.0-rc.1.9+3fb5377b25ec51",
+			gcsVersion:  "v1.28.0-beta.1.9+3fb5377b25ec51",
+			needsUpdate: true,
+			shouldError: false,
+		},
+		{ // success version > gcsVersion (with build version, stable and prerelease)
+			prepare: func(mock *releasefakes.FakePublisherClient, gcsVersion string) {
+				mock.NormalizePath("", "")
+				mock.GSUtilOutputReturns(gcsVersion, nil)
+			},
+			version:     "v1.28.0-7+c4e17abb04728e",
+			gcsVersion:  "v1.28.0-rc.1.9+3fb5377b25ec51",
+			needsUpdate: true,
+			shouldError: false,
+		},
+	} {
+		sut := release.NewPublisher()
+		clientMock := &releasefakes.FakePublisherClient{}
+		sut.SetClient(clientMock)
+		tc.prepare(clientMock, tc.gcsVersion)
+
+		needsUpdate, err := sut.VerifyLatestUpdate("", "", tc.version)
+		if tc.shouldError {
+			require.NotNil(t, err)
+		} else {
+			require.Nil(t, err)
+			require.Equal(t, tc.needsUpdate, needsUpdate)
+		}
+	}
+}