diff --git a/HOW_TO_CUT_A_PGRX_RELEASE.md b/HOW_TO_CUT_A_PGRX_RELEASE.md
index 13c04c605..788bf872d 100644
--- a/HOW_TO_CUT_A_PGRX_RELEASE.md
+++ b/HOW_TO_CUT_A_PGRX_RELEASE.md
@@ -1,19 +1,5 @@
 ```shell
-export NEW_VERSION=""
-git switch develop
-git fetch origin
-git diff origin/develop | if [ "$0" = "" ]; then
-    echo "git diff found local changes on develop branch, cannot cut release."
-elif [ "$NEW_VERSION" = "" ]; then
-    echo "No version set. Are you just copying and pasting this without checking?"
-else
-    git pull origin develop --ff-only
-    git switch -c "prepare-${NEW_VERSION}"
-    ./update-versions.sh "${NEW_VERSION}"
-    git diff # sanity check the diffs
-    git commit -a -m "Update version to ${NEW_VERSION}"
-    git push --set-upstream origin "prepare-${NEW_VERSION}"
-fi
+./prepare-release.sh NEW_VERSION_NUMBER
 ```
 
 - go make a PR to `develop` on GitHub
diff --git a/prepare-release.sh b/prepare-release.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..e067b9bc1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/prepare-release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+#! /usr/bin/env bash
+
+NEW_VERSION=$1
+if [ -z "${NEW_VERSION}" ]; then
+	echo "Usage: ./prepare-release.sh NEW_VERSION_NUMBER"
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+git switch develop
+git fetch origin
+git diff origin/develop | if [ "$0" = "" ]; then
+    echo "git diff found local changes on develop branch, cannot cut release."
+elif [ "$NEW_VERSION" = "" ]; then
+    echo "No version set. Are you just copying and pasting this without checking?"
+else
+    git pull origin develop --ff-only
+    git switch -c "prepare-${NEW_VERSION}"
+   
+    # exit early if the script fails 
+    ./update-versions.sh "${NEW_VERSION}" || exit $?
+
+    # sanity check the diffs, but not Cargo.lock files cuz ugh
+    git diff -- . ':(exclude)Cargo.lock'
+
+    # send it all to github
+    git commit -a -m "Update version to ${NEW_VERSION}"
+    git push --set-upstream origin "prepare-${NEW_VERSION}"
+fi
+