diff --git a/build/mark-new-version.sh b/build/mark-new-version.sh
index ac2c1e2db52..943ef7f95ea 100755
--- a/build/mark-new-version.sh
+++ b/build/mark-new-version.sh
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ KUBE_ROOT=$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE}")/..
 
 NEW_VERSION=${1-}
 
-VERSION_REGEX="v([0-9]+).([0-9]+(.[0-9]+)?)"
+VERSION_REGEX="v([0-9]+).([0-9]+)(.([0-9]+))?"
 [[ ${NEW_VERSION} =~ $VERSION_REGEX ]] || {
   echo "!!! You must specify the version in the form of '$VERSION_REGEX'" >&2
   exit 1
@@ -32,6 +32,13 @@ VERSION_REGEX="v([0-9]+).([0-9]+(.[0-9]+)?)"
 
 VERSION_MAJOR="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
 VERSION_MINOR="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
+VERSION_PATCH="${BASH_REMATCH[4]}"
+
+# force .0 if no patch version specified
+if [[ -z ${VERSION_PATCH:-} ]]; then
+  VERSION_PATCH="0"
+  NEW_VERSION="${NEW_VERSION}.0"
+fi
 
 if ! git diff-index --quiet --cached HEAD; then
   echo "!!! You must not have any changes in your index when running this command"
@@ -43,6 +50,16 @@ if ! git diff-files --quiet pkg/version/base.go; then
   exit 1
 fi
 
+release_branch="release-${VERSION_MAJOR}.${VERSION_MINOR}"
+
+if [[ "${VERSION_PATCH}" != "0" ]]; then
+  branch=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
+  if [[ ${branch} != "${release_branch}" ]]; then
+    echo "!!! You are trying to tag to an existing minor release but are not on the release branch: ${release_branch}"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+fi
+
 SED=sed
 if which gsed &>/dev/null; then
   SED=gsed
@@ -54,8 +71,8 @@ fi
 VERSION_FILE="${KUBE_ROOT}/pkg/version/base.go"
 
 echo "+++ Updating to ${NEW_VERSION}"
-"$SED" -r -i -e "s/gitMajor\s+string = \"[^\"]*\"/gitMajor string = \"$VERSION_MAJOR\"/" "${VERSION_FILE}"
-"$SED" -r -i -e "s/gitMinor\s+string = \"[^\"]*\"/gitMinor string = \"$VERSION_MINOR\"/" "${VERSION_FILE}"
+"$SED" -r -i -e "s/gitMajor\s+string = \"[^\"]*\"/gitMajor string = \"${VERSION_MAJOR}\"/" "${VERSION_FILE}"
+"$SED" -r -i -e "s/gitMinor\s+string = \"[^\"]*\"/gitMinor string = \"${VERSION_MINOR}.${VERSION_PATCH}\"/" "${VERSION_FILE}"
 "$SED" -r -i -e "s/gitVersion\s+string = \"[^\"]*\"/gitVersion string = \"$NEW_VERSION\"/" "${VERSION_FILE}"
 gofmt -s -w "${VERSION_FILE}"
 
@@ -67,11 +84,30 @@ echo "+++ Tagging version"
 git tag -a -m "Kubernetes version $NEW_VERSION" "${NEW_VERSION}"
 
 echo "+++ Updating to ${NEW_VERSION}-dev"
-"$SED" -r -i -e "s/gitMajor\s+string = \"[^\"]*\"/gitMajor string = \"$VERSION_MAJOR\"/" "${VERSION_FILE}"
-"$SED" -r -i -e "s/gitMinor\s+string = \"[^\"]*\"/gitMinor string = \"$VERSION_MINOR\+\"/" "${VERSION_FILE}"
+"$SED" -r -i -e "s/gitMajor\s+string = \"[^\"]*\"/gitMajor string = \"${VERSION_MAJOR}\"/" "${VERSION_FILE}"
+"$SED" -r -i -e "s/gitMinor\s+string = \"[^\"]*\"/gitMinor string = \"${VERSION_MINOR}.${VERSION_PATCH}\+\"/" "${VERSION_FILE}"
 "$SED" -r -i -e "s/gitVersion\s+string = \"[^\"]*\"/gitVersion string = \"$NEW_VERSION-dev\"/" "${VERSION_FILE}"
 gofmt -s -w "${VERSION_FILE}"
 
 echo "+++ Committing version change"
 git add "${VERSION_FILE}"
 git commit -m "Kubernetes version ${NEW_VERSION}-dev"
+
+if [[ "${VERSION_PATCH}" == "0" ]]; then
+  echo "+++ Creating release branch"
+  git branch "${release_branch}"
+fi
+
+echo "Success you must now:"
+echo ""
+echo "- Push the tag:"
+echo "   git push git@github.com:GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes.git v${VERSION_MAJOR}.${VERSION_MINOR}.${VERSION_PATCH}"
+if [[ "${VERSION_PATCH}" == "0" ]]; then
+  echo "- Submit HEAD as a PR to master"
+  echo "- Merge that PR"
+  echo "- Push the new release branch"
+  echo "   git push git@github.com:GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes.git ${release_branch}"
+else
+  echo "- Submit HEAD as a PR to ${release_branch}"
+  echo "- Merge that PR"
+fi