diff --git a/.buildkite/pipeline.yml b/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
index a2f13e3d03d..3813173f556 100644
--- a/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
+++ b/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
@@ -11,14 +11,6 @@ env:
 
 
 steps:
-  - label: 'Merge from staging only'
-    if: 'build.branch == "staging"'
-    command: './.buildkite/check-bors.sh'
-    agents:
-      system: ${linux}
-
-  - wait: ~
-    if: 'build.branch == "staging"'
 
   - label: 'Check nix (linux)'
     # Check whether regenerate.sh was applied when it had to be applied.
diff --git a/.buildkite/release.yml b/.buildkite/release.yml
index 6de0b7a9a47..784e4430bd6 100644
--- a/.buildkite/release.yml
+++ b/.buildkite/release.yml
@@ -4,12 +4,28 @@ agents:
 env:
   LC_ALL: "C.UTF-8"
   NIX_PATH: "channel:nixos-21.11"
-  TMPDIR: "/cache"
+  RELEASE_CANDIDATE_BRANCH: "not set"
+  RELEASE_COMMIT: "not set"
 
 steps:
-  - label: 'Hello'
-    key: build-docker
-    command: |
-      nix shell .#cardano-wallet -c cardano-wallet version
+  # - label: 'Check nix (linux)'
+  #   # Check whether regenerate.sh was applied when it had to be applied.
+  #   key: linux-nix
+  #   commands:
+  #     - './nix/regenerate.sh'
+  #   agents:
+  #     system: ${linux}
+
+  - label: Add release commits
+    key: add-release-commits
+    # depends_on: linux-nix
+    commands: |
+      ./scripts/release-candidate.sh
+    agents:
+      system: x86_64-linux
+  - wait: ~
+  - label: 'Check out release commit'
+    commands: |
+      git checkout $RELEASE_COMMIT
     agents:
       system: x86_64-linux
diff --git a/scripts/release-candidate.sh b/scripts/release-candidate.sh
index dca7ebf5e07..cd167566ba1 100755
--- a/scripts/release-candidate.sh
+++ b/scripts/release-candidate.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
-#! /usr/bin/env bash
+#! /usr/bin/env -S nix shell '.#cardano-node' 'nixpkgs#gnused' --command bash
+# shellcheck shell=bash
 
-set -euo pipefail
+set -euox pipefail
 
 # date from git tag
 # example v2023-04-04 -> 2023-04-04
@@ -13,11 +14,7 @@ tag_cabal_ver() {
   tag_date "$1" | sed -e s/-0/-/g -e s/-/./g
 }
 
-BASE_COMMIT=$(curl -X GET -H "Authorization: Bearer ${BUILDKITE_API_TOKEN}" \
-    "https://api.buildkite.com/v2/organizations/cardano-foundation/pipelines/cardano-wallet/builds" \
-    | jq -r \
-        '[.[] | select(.state == "passed" and .branch == "master") | .commit][0]')
-
+BASE_COMMIT=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
 echo "BASE_COMMIT=$BASE_COMMIT"
 
 today=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
@@ -34,25 +31,31 @@ echo "OLD_GIT_TAG=$OLD_GIT_TAG"
 OLD_CABAL_VERSION=$(tag_cabal_ver "$OLD_GIT_TAG")
 echo "OLD_CABAL_VERSION=$OLD_CABAL_VERSION"
 
-CARDANO_NODE_TAG="8.9.3"
+CARDANO_NODE_TAG=$(cardano-node version | head -n1 | awk '{print $2}')
 echo "CARDANO_NODE_TAG=$CARDANO_NODE_TAG"
 
-git checkout "$BASE_COMMIT"
+RELEASE_CANDIDATE_BRANCH="release-candidate-new/$NEW_GIT_TAG"
+echo "RELEASE_CANDIDATE_BRANCH=$RELEASE_CANDIDATE_BRANCH"
 
 git config --global user.email "gha@cardanofoundation.org"
 git config --global user.name "Github Action"
 
-git checkout -b release-candidate/"$NEW_GIT_TAG" || true
+git branch -D "$RELEASE_CANDIDATE_BRANCH" || true
+git checkout -b "$RELEASE_CANDIDATE_BRANCH" || true
 
-sed -i "s|version: .*|version: $NEW_GIT_TAG|" specifications/api/swagger.yaml
+sed -i "s|version: .*|version: $NEW_GIT_TAG|g" specifications/api/swagger.yaml
 git commit -m "Update wallet version in swagger.yaml" specifications/api/swagger.yaml
 
-git ls-files  '*.cabal' | xargs sed -i "s/$OLD_CABAL_VERSION/$NEW_CABAL_VERSION/"
+git ls-files  '*.cabal' | xargs sed -i "s|$OLD_CABAL_VERSION|$NEW_CABAL_VERSION|g"
 git commit -am "Update cardano-wallet version in *.cabal files"
 
-sed -i "s|NODE_TAG=.*|NODE_TAG=$CARDANO_NODE_TAG|" README.md
-sed -i "s|WALLET_TAG=.*|WALLET_TAG=$NEW_CABAL_VERSION|" README.md
-sed -i "s|WALLET_VERSION=.*|WALLET_VERSION=$NEW_GIT_TAG|" README.md
+sed -i "s|NODE_TAG=.*|NODE_TAG=$CARDANO_NODE_TAG|g" README.md
+sed -i "s|WALLET_TAG=.*|WALLET_TAG=$NEW_CABAL_VERSION|g" README.md
+sed -i "s|WALLET_VERSION=.*|WALLET_VERSION=$NEW_GIT_TAG|g" README.md
 git commit -am "Update cardano-wallet version in README.md"
 
-git push -f origin release-candidate/"$NEW_GIT_TAG"
+RELEASE_COMMIT=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
+echo "RELEASE_COMMIT=$RELEASE_COMMIT"
+
+echo ${GITHUB_TOKEN:0:4}
+git push -f origin "$RELEASE_CANDIDATE_BRANCH"