diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-candidate.yml b/.github/workflows/release-candidate.yml
index 4f940902a..56be7fc14 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-candidate.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-candidate.yml
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ jobs:
           fi
           echo "SDK_RC_VERSION=$(poetry version -s)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
           echo "SDK_VERSION=$(poetry version ${{ inputs.version }} -s --dry-run)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-          echo "version=$(poetry rc_version -s)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "rc_version=$(poetry version -s)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           echo "version=$(poetry version ${{ inputs.version }} -s --dry-run)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
       - name: Check if release exists
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           commit-message: Bump version to ${{ env.RC_SDK_VERSION }}
           branch: rc-${{ env.SDK_VERSION }}
-          delete-branch: true
+          delete-branch: false
           base: main
           title: rc-${{ env.SDK_VERSION }}
           body: This is an auto-generated PR to merge the rc branch back into main upon successful release.
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 1485403bc..2702a8246 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ jobs:
 
   build:
     needs: prepare
-    if: github.repository_owner == 'viamrobotics' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
+    if: github.repository_owner == 'viamrobotics' && startsWith(github.ref, 'rc-')
     runs-on: [self-hosted, x64]
     container:
       image: ghcr.io/viamrobotics/canon:amd64
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ jobs:
 
   release:
     needs: [prepare, build]
-    if: github.repository_owner == 'viamrobotics' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
+    if: github.repository_owner == 'viamrobotics' && startsWith(github.ref, 'rc-')
     runs-on: [self-hosted, x64]
     container:
       image: ghcr.io/viamrobotics/canon:amd64
@@ -137,3 +137,4 @@ jobs:
           draft: true
           prerelease: false
           fail_on_unmatched_files: true
+          target_commitish: rc-${{ needs.prepare.outputs.version }}