diff --git a/lib/prepare_release.js b/lib/prepare_release.js
index 9f3c3866..6b0aa131 100644
--- a/lib/prepare_release.js
+++ b/lib/prepare_release.js
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import { promises as fs } from 'node:fs';
 import semver from 'semver';
 import { replaceInFile } from 'replace-in-file';
 
-import { runAsync, runSync } from './run.js';
+import { forceRunAsync, runAsync, runSync } from './run.js';
 import { writeJson, readJson } from './file.js';
 import Request from './request.js';
 import auth from './auth.js';
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ export default class ReleasePreparation extends Session {
       // Check the branch diff to determine if the releaser
       // wants to backport any more commits before proceeding.
       cli.startSpinner('Fetching branch-diff');
-      const raw = this.getBranchDiff({
+      const raw = await this.getBranchDiff({
         onlyNotableChanges: false,
         comparisonBranch: newVersion
       });
@@ -181,10 +181,9 @@ export default class ReleasePreparation extends Session {
 
       const outstandingCommits = diff.length - 1;
       if (outstandingCommits !== 0) {
-        const staging = `v${semver.major(newVersion)}.x-staging`;
         const proceed = await cli.prompt(
           `There are ${outstandingCommits} commits that may be ` +
-          `backported to ${staging} - do you still want to proceed?`,
+          `backported to ${this.stagingBranch} - do you still want to proceed?`,
           { defaultAnswer: false });
 
         if (!proceed) {
@@ -335,18 +334,8 @@ export default class ReleasePreparation extends Session {
     return missing;
   }
 
-  async calculateNewVersion(major) {
-    const { cli } = this;
-
-    cli.startSpinner(`Parsing CHANGELOG for most recent release of v${major}.x`);
-    const data = await fs.readFile(
-      path.resolve(`doc/changelogs/CHANGELOG_V${major}.md`),
-      'utf8'
-    );
-    const [,, minor, patch] = /<a href="#(\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)">\1\.\2\.\3<\/a><br\/>/.exec(data);
-
-    cli.stopSpinner(`Latest release on ${major}.x line is ${major}.${minor}.${patch}`);
-    const changelog = this.getChangelog(`v${major}.${minor}.${patch}`);
+  async calculateNewVersion({ tagName, major, minor, patch }) {
+    const changelog = this.getChangelog(tagName);
 
     const newVersion = { major, minor, patch };
     if (changelog.includes('SEMVER-MAJOR')) {
@@ -478,7 +467,7 @@ export default class ReleasePreparation extends Session {
     const data = await fs.readFile(majorChangelogPath, 'utf8');
     const arr = data.split('\n');
     const allCommits = this.getChangelog();
-    const notableChanges = this.getBranchDiff({ onlyNotableChanges: true });
+    const notableChanges = await this.getBranchDiff({ onlyNotableChanges: true });
     let releaseHeader = `## ${date}, Version ${newVersion}` +
                           ` ${releaseInfo}, @${username}\n`;
     if (isSecurityRelease) {
@@ -532,14 +521,14 @@ export default class ReleasePreparation extends Session {
   }
 
   async createProposalBranch(base = this.stagingBranch) {
-    const { upstream, newVersion } = this;
+    const { newVersion } = this;
     const proposalBranch = `v${newVersion}-proposal`;
 
     await runAsync('git', [
       'checkout',
       '-b',
       proposalBranch,
-      `${upstream}/${base}`
+      base
     ]);
     return proposalBranch;
   }
@@ -614,7 +603,7 @@ export default class ReleasePreparation extends Session {
       messageBody.push('This is a security release.\n\n');
     }
 
-    const notableChanges = this.getBranchDiff({
+    const notableChanges = await this.getBranchDiff({
       onlyNotableChanges: true,
       format: 'plaintext'
     });
@@ -641,8 +630,9 @@ export default class ReleasePreparation extends Session {
     return useMessage;
   }
 
-  getBranchDiff(opts) {
+  async getBranchDiff(opts) {
     const {
+      cli,
       versionComponents = {},
       upstream,
       newVersion,
@@ -670,6 +660,10 @@ export default class ReleasePreparation extends Session {
         'semver-minor'
       ];
 
+      await forceRunAsync('git', ['remote', 'set-branches', '--add', upstream, releaseBranch], {
+        ignoreFailures: false
+      });
+      await forceRunAsync('git', ['fetch', upstream, releaseBranch], { ignoreFailures: false });
       branchDiffOptions = [
         `${upstream}/${releaseBranch}`,
         proposalBranch,
@@ -688,20 +682,43 @@ export default class ReleasePreparation extends Session {
         'baking-for-lts'
       ];
 
-      let comparisonBranch = 'main';
+      let comparisonBranch = this.config.branch || 'main';
       const isSemverMinor = versionComponents.patch === 0;
       if (isLTS) {
+        const res = await fetch('https://nodejs.org/dist/index.json');
+        if (!res.ok) throw new Error('Failed to fetch', { cause: res });
+        const [latest] = await res.json();
         // Assume Current branch matches tag with highest semver value.
-        const tags = runSync('git',
-          ['tag', '-l', '--sort', '-version:refname']).trim();
-        const highestVersionTag = tags.split('\n')[0];
-        comparisonBranch = `v${semver.coerce(highestVersionTag).major}.x`;
+        comparisonBranch = `v${semver.coerce(latest.version).major}.x`;
 
         if (!isSemverMinor) {
           excludeLabels.push('semver-minor');
         }
       }
 
+      await forceRunAsync('git', ['fetch', upstream, comparisonBranch], { ignoreFailures: false });
+      const commits = await forceRunAsync('git', ['rev-parse', 'FETCH_HEAD', comparisonBranch], {
+        captureStdout: 'lines',
+        ignoreFailures: true
+      });
+      if (commits == null) {
+        const shouldCreateCompareBranch = await cli.prompt(
+          `No local branch ${comparisonBranch}, do you want to create it?`);
+        if (shouldCreateCompareBranch) {
+          await forceRunAsync('git', ['branch', comparisonBranch, 'FETCH_HEAD'], {
+            ignoreFailures: false
+          });
+        }
+      } else if (commits[0] !== commits[1]) {
+        const shouldUpBranch = cli.prompt(`Local ${comparisonBranch} branch is not in sync with ${
+                                        upstream}/${comparisonBranch}, do you want to update it?`);
+        if (shouldUpBranch) {
+          await forceRunAsync('git', ['branch', '-f', comparisonBranch, 'FETCH_HEAD'], {
+            ignoreFailures: false
+          });
+        }
+      }
+
       branchDiffOptions = [
         stagingBranch,
         comparisonBranch,
@@ -718,6 +735,27 @@ export default class ReleasePreparation extends Session {
     return runSync(branchDiff, branchDiffOptions);
   }
 
+  async getLastRelease(major) {
+    const { cli } = this;
+
+    cli.startSpinner(`Parsing CHANGELOG for most recent release of v${major}.x`);
+    const data = await fs.readFile(
+      path.resolve(`doc/changelogs/CHANGELOG_V${major}.md`),
+      'utf8'
+    );
+    const [,, minor, patch] = /<a href="#(\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)">\1\.\2\.\3<\/a><br\/>/.exec(data);
+    this.isLTS = data.includes('<th>LTS ');
+
+    cli.stopSpinner(`Latest release on ${major}.x line is ${major}.${minor}.${patch}${
+      this.isLTS ? ' (LTS)' : ''
+    }`);
+
+    return {
+      tagName: await this.getLastRef(`v${major}.${minor}.${patch}`),
+      major, minor, patch
+    };
+  }
+
   async prepareLocalBranch() {
     const { cli } = this;
     if (this.newVersion) {
@@ -736,6 +774,7 @@ export default class ReleasePreparation extends Session {
       this.stagingBranch = `v${newVersion.major}.x-staging`;
       this.releaseBranch = `v${newVersion.major}.x`;
       await this.tryResetBranch();
+      await this.getLastRelease(newVersion.major);
       return;
     }
 
@@ -751,7 +790,7 @@ export default class ReleasePreparation extends Session {
     }
     this.stagingBranch = currentBranch;
     await this.tryResetBranch();
-    this.versionComponents = await this.calculateNewVersion(match[1]);
+    this.versionComponents = await this.calculateNewVersion(await this.getLastRelease(match[1]));
     const { major, minor, patch } = this.versionComponents;
     this.newVersion = `${major}.${minor}.${patch}`;
     this.releaseBranch = `v${major}.x`;