diff --git a/release/build-official-release.sh b/release/build-official-release.sh
index d539cdb0499..f6d1269780e 100755
--- a/release/build-official-release.sh
+++ b/release/build-official-release.sh
@@ -45,13 +45,13 @@ declare -r KUBE_GITHUB="https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes.git"
 declare -r KUBE_RELEASE_VERSION=${1-}
 declare -r KUBE_RELEASE_UMASK=${KUBE_RELEASE_UMASK:-022}
 
-VERSION_REGEX="^v(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)(-beta|-alpha\\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*))?$"
+VERSION_REGEX="^v(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)(-(beta|alpha)\\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*))?$"
 [[ ${KUBE_RELEASE_VERSION} =~ ${VERSION_REGEX} ]] || {
   echo "!!! You must specify the version you are releasing in the form of '${VERSION_REGEX}'" >&2
   exit 1
 }
 
-declare -r KUBE_BUILD_DIR="/tmp/kubernetes-release-${KUBE_RELEASE_VERSION}-$(date +%s)"
+declare -r KUBE_BUILD_DIR=$(mktemp -d "/tmp/kubernetes-build-release-${KUBE_RELEASE_VERSION}-XXXXXXX")
 
 # Set the default umask for the release. This ensures consistency
 # across our release builds.
diff --git a/release/cut-official-release.sh b/release/cut-official-release.sh
index 39385664770..bf66df7cbde 100755
--- a/release/cut-official-release.sh
+++ b/release/cut-official-release.sh
@@ -94,10 +94,10 @@ function main() {
   umask "${release_umask}"
 
   local -r github="https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes.git"
-  declare -r DIR="/tmp/kubernetes-${release_type}-release-${new_version}-$(date +%s)"
+  declare -r DIR=$(mktemp -d "/tmp/kubernetes-${release_type}-release-${new_version}-XXXXXXX")
 
   # Start a tmp file that will hold instructions for the user.
-  declare -r INSTRUCTIONS="/tmp/kubernetes-${release_type}-release-${new_version}-$(date +%s)-instructions"
+  declare -r INSTRUCTIONS=$(mktemp "/tmp/kubernetes-${release_type}-release-${new_version}-instructions-XXXXXXX")
   if $DRY_RUN; then
     cat > "${INSTRUCTIONS}" <<- EOM
 Success on dry run!  Do