diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index 03bbe82..ee90554 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -2,9 +2,14 @@ name: Release
 
 on:
   workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      release_version:
+        description: Release version without the release/ prefix
+        required: true
+        type: string
   push:
     tags:
-      - 'release/0\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+'
+      - 'release/0.*.*'
 
 jobs:
   release:
@@ -12,4 +17,4 @@ jobs:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/subflow_release.yaml
     secrets: inherit
     with:
-      release_version: ${GITHUB_REF#refs/*/release/}
+      release_version: ${{ inputs.release_version || github.ref_name }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/subflow_release.yaml b/.github/workflows/subflow_release.yaml
index 99f6ce7..06f2443 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/subflow_release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/subflow_release.yaml
@@ -12,17 +12,17 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
       - name: checkout sources
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v6
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
 
       - name: Setup Go
-        uses: actions/setup-go@v5
+        uses: actions/setup-go@v7
         with:
           go-version-file: 'server/go.mod'
 
       - name: Set up Helm
-        uses: azure/setup-helm@v1
+        uses: azure/setup-helm@v5.0.1
         with:
           version: v3.11.2
 
@@ -42,8 +42,15 @@ jobs:
           password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
       - name: Set release version env variable
+        shell: bash
         run: |
-          echo "RELEASE_VERSION=${{ inputs.release_version }}" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          release_version='${{ inputs.release_version }}'
+          release_version="${release_version#release/}"
+          if [[ ! "$release_version" =~ ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+            echo "Release version must have the form X.Y.Z, got: $release_version" >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "RELEASE_VERSION=$release_version" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
 
       - name: Update chart version
         uses: mikefarah/yq@master
@@ -60,4 +67,4 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
         run: |
-          make release RELEASE_VERSION=${{ inputs.release_version }}
+          make release RELEASE_VERSION="$RELEASE_VERSION"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/subflow_run_unit_tests.yaml b/.github/workflows/subflow_run_unit_tests.yaml
index aed595a..92e2798 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/subflow_run_unit_tests.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/subflow_run_unit_tests.yaml
@@ -20,12 +20,12 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
       - name: checkout sources
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        uses: actions/checkout@v6
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
 
       - name: Setup Go
-        uses: actions/setup-go@v5
+        uses: actions/setup-go@v7
         with:
           go-version-file: 'server/go.mod'