diff --git a/doc/internal/ReleaseInstructions.md b/doc/internal/ReleaseInstructions.md
index 5f6f3550a89..6c659041607 100644
--- a/doc/internal/ReleaseInstructions.md
+++ b/doc/internal/ReleaseInstructions.md
@@ -119,9 +119,17 @@ Create the `settings.xml` in the `$HOME/.m2/` directory as described in their [i
 
 ## Release Cutover 
 
-In this section we describe our current release process. We begin with a short [**overview**](#overview).
+In this section we describe our current release process. We begin with a list of [**pre-requisite for the release team**](#pre-requisites) and with a short [**overview**](#overview).
 The release process is divided into three parts: [**Pre-Release**](#pre-release), [**Release**](#release), [**Post-Release**](#post-release), which are detailed after the overview.
 
+### Pre-Requisites
+
+This section highlights the different pre-requisites the release team has to meet before releasing.
+
+- The tool `gh` must be installed locally and ready to be used.
+- You must have access to the Java release, more information in the [**Java Packages**](#java-packages) section.
+- You must be able to create branches and have admin right on the `vitessio/vitess` and `planetscale/vitess-operator` repositories.
+
 ### Overview
 
 #### Schedule
diff --git a/tools/create_release.sh b/tools/create_release.sh
index ac18dd9f61b..546b60d40c3 100755
--- a/tools/create_release.sh
+++ b/tools/create_release.sh
@@ -90,6 +90,6 @@ echo " "
 echo " "
 echo "Once pushed, please execute the following gh command to create the Pull Requests. Please replace 'USER_ON_WHICH_YOU_PUSHED' with the user/org on which you pushed the two branches."
 echo " "
-echo "   gh pr create -w --title 'Release of v$RELEASE_VERSION' --base $BASE_BRANCH --head USER_ON_WHICH_YOU_PUSHED:$current_branch --label 'Type: Release','Component: General' --body 'Includes the release notes and release commit for the v$RELEASE_VERSION release. Once this PR is merged, we will be able to tag v$RELEASE_VERSION on the merge commit.'"
+echo "   gh pr create -w --title 'Release of v$RELEASE_VERSION' --base $BASE_BRANCH --head USER_ON_WHICH_YOU_PUSHED:$current_branch --label 'Type: Release','Component: General','Do Not Merge' --body 'Includes the release notes and release commit for the v$RELEASE_VERSION release. Once this PR is merged, we will be able to tag v$RELEASE_VERSION on the merge commit.'"
 echo " "
 echo "----------------"