diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 3622b41d9da..39bc3fe993c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -45,12 +45,6 @@ jobs:
 
           echo "PRIOR_VERSION_WHEN_PATCH=$prior_version_when_patch" >> $GITHUB_ENV
 
-        # check out main branch to verify there won't be problems with merging the change log
-        # at the end of this workflow
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
-        with:
-          ref: main
-
       - run: |
           if [[ -z $PRIOR_VERSION_WHEN_PATCH ]]; then
             # not making a patch release
@@ -60,6 +54,12 @@ jobs:
             fi
           fi
 
+      # check out main branch to verify there won't be problems with merging the change log
+      # at the end of this workflow
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        with:
+          ref: main
+
         # back to the release branch
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
 
diff --git a/RELEASING.md b/RELEASING.md
index 21adcce02f3..e3246216340 100644
--- a/RELEASING.md
+++ b/RELEASING.md
@@ -7,8 +7,10 @@
     * If making a pre-release of stable components (e.g. release candidate),
       enter the pre-release version number, e.g. `1.9.0rc2`.
       (otherwise the workflow will pick up the version from `main` and just remove the `.dev` suffix).
-  * Review and merge the two pull requests that it creates
+  * Review the two pull requests that it creates.
     (one is targeted to the release branch and one is targeted to `main`).
+    * Merge the one targeted towards the release branch.
+    * The builds will fail for the `main` pr because of validation rules. Follow the [release workflow](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python-contrib/blob/main/RELEASING.md) for the contrib repo up until this same point. Change the SHAs of each PR to point at each other to get the `main` builds to pass.
 
 ## Preparing a new patch release
 
@@ -69,7 +71,7 @@
 ## After the release
 
 * Check PyPI
-  * This should be handled automatically on release by the [publish action](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python/blob/main/.github/workflows/publish.yml).
+  * This should be handled automatically on release by the [publish action](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python/blob/main/.github/workflows/release.yml).
   * Check the [action logs](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python/actions?query=workflow%3APublish) to make sure packages have been uploaded to PyPI
   * Check the release history (e.g. https://pypi.org/project/opentelemetry-api/#history) on PyPI
   * If for some reason the action failed, see [Publish failed](#publish-failed) below