diff --git a/scripts/create-release.sh b/scripts/create-release.sh
index 1ca8fdb..b05f8a7 100755
--- a/scripts/create-release.sh
+++ b/scripts/create-release.sh
@@ -16,6 +16,17 @@ if [[ "$(git symbolic-ref --short HEAD)" != "master" ]]; then
   exit 1
 fi
 
+waitForPr() {
+  local pr=$1
+  while true; do
+    if gh pr view "$pr" | grep -q 'MERGED'; then
+      break
+    fi
+    echo "Waiting for PR to be merged..."
+    sleep 5
+  done
+}
+
 sed -Ei "s!(version = ).*!\1\"$version\";!" default.nix
 sed -Ei "s!(NIX_DIRENV_VERSION=).*!\1$version!" direnvrc
 
@@ -24,6 +35,32 @@ sed -i README.md templates/flake/.envrc \
   -e 's?\( ! nix_direnv_version \)[0-9.]\+\(; \)?\1'"${version}"'\2?'
 git add README.md direnvrc templates/flake/.envrc default.nix
 git commit -m "bump version ${version}"
-git tag -e "${version}"
+git tag "${version}"
+git branch -D "release-${version}" || true
+git checkout -b "release-${version}"
+git push origin --force "release-${version}"
+gh pr create \
+  --base master \
+  --head "release-${version}" \
+  --title "Release ${version}" \
+  --body "Release ${version} of nix-direnv"
 
-echo "now run 'git push --tags origin master && ./scripts/update-checksum.sh'"
+gh pr merge --auto "release-${version}"
+
+waitForPr "release-${version}"
+git push origin "$version"
+
+sha256=$(direnv fetchurl "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nix-community/nix-direnv/${version}/direnvrc" | grep -m1 -o 'sha256-.*')
+sed -i README.md templates/flake/.envrc -e "s!sha256-.*!${sha256}\"!"
+git add README.md templates/flake/.envrc
+git commit -m "update fetchurl checksum"
+git push origin --force "release-${version}"
+gh pr create \
+  --base master \
+  --head "release-${version}" \
+  --title "Update checksums for release ${version} of nix-direnv" \
+  --body "Update checksums for release ${version} of nix-direnv"
+gh pr merge --auto "release-${version}"
+waitForPr "release-${version}"
+
+echo "You can now create a release at https://github.com/nix-community/nix-direnv/releases for version ${version}"
diff --git a/scripts/update-checksum.sh b/scripts/update-checksum.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index b0c6c2b..0000000
--- a/scripts/update-checksum.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,14 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-set -euo pipefail
-
-SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" >/dev/null && pwd)"
-cd "$SCRIPT_DIR/.."
-
-tag=$(git describe --tags | cut -d- -f1)
-sha256=$(direnv fetchurl "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nix-community/nix-direnv/${tag}/direnvrc" | grep -m1 -o 'sha256-.*')
-
-sed -i README.md templates/flake/.envrc -e "s!sha256-.*!${sha256}\"!"
-git add README.md templates/flake/.envrc
-git commit -m "update fetchurl checksum"
-echo "Now run: git push"
-echo "And create a release at https://github.com/nix-community/nix-direnv/releases for version ${tag}"