diff --git a/cmd/gorepomod/internal/git/runner.go b/cmd/gorepomod/internal/git/runner.go
index dac244d58e9..5b49f9a5fef 100644
--- a/cmd/gorepomod/internal/git/runner.go
+++ b/cmd/gorepomod/internal/git/runner.go
@@ -258,7 +258,8 @@ func (gr *Runner) AssureOnMainBranch() error {
 // CheckoutMainBranch does that.
 func (gr *Runner) CheckoutMainBranch() error {
 	gr.comment("checking out main branch")
-	return gr.runNoOut(noHarmDone, "checkout", mainBranch)
+	fullBranchSpec := fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", remoteOrigin, mainBranch)
+	return gr.runNoOut(noHarmDone, "checkout", fullBranchSpec)
 }
 
 // FetchRemote does that.
diff --git a/releasing/create-release.sh b/releasing/create-release.sh
index 26f00c403ee..71e9fa24fdc 100755
--- a/releasing/create-release.sh
+++ b/releasing/create-release.sh
@@ -23,14 +23,29 @@ set -o errexit
 set -o nounset
 set -o pipefail
 
+declare -a RELEASE_TYPES=("major" "minor" "patch")
+upstream_master="master"
+origin_master="master"
+
 if [[ -z "${1-}" ]]; then
   echo "Usage: $0 TAG"
   echo "  TAG: the tag to build or release, e.g. api/v1.2.3"
   exit 1
 fi
 
+if [[ -z "${2-}" ]]; then
+  echo "Release type not specified, using default value: patch"
+  release_type="patch"
+elif [[ ! "${RELEASE_TYPES[*]}" =~ "${2}" ]]; then
+  echo "Unsupported release type, only input these values: major, minor, patch."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
 git_tag=$1
+release_type=$2
+
 echo "release tag: $git_tag"
+echo "release type: $release_type"
 
 # Build the release binaries for every OS/arch combination.
 # It builds compressed artifacts on $release_dir.
@@ -81,22 +96,39 @@ function build_kustomize_binary {
 }
 
 function create_release {
+  source ./releasing/helpers.sh
+
   git_tag=$1
 
   # Take everything before the last slash.
   # This is expected to match $module.
   module=${git_tag%/*}
+  module_slugified=$(echo $module | iconv -t ascii//TRANSLIT | sed -E -e 's/[^[:alnum:]]+/-/g' -e 's/^-+|-+$//g' | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')
 
   # Take everything after the last slash.
   version=${git_tag##*/}
 
+  determineNextVersion $@
+
+  release_branch="release-${module}/${nextVersion}"
+
+  # Create release branch release-{module}/{version}
+  echo "Creating release branch $release_branch..."
+  git fetch --tags upstream $upstream_master
+  git branch $release_branch $origin_master
+  git commit -a -m "create release branch $release_branch" || true
+  git push -f origin $release_branch
+
   # Generate the changelog for this release
   # using the last two tags for the module
   changelog_file=$(mktemp)
-  ./releasing/compile-changelog.sh "$module" "$git_tag" "$changelog_file"
+  ./releasing/compile-changelog.sh "$module" "HEAD" "$changelog_file"
 
   additional_release_artifacts_arg=""
 
+  # Trigger workflow for respective modeule release
+  gh workflow run "release-${module_slugified}.yml" -f "release_type=${release_type}" -f "release_branch=${release_branch}"
+
   # build `kustomize` binary
   if [[ "$module" == "kustomize" ]]; then
     release_artifact_dir=$(mktemp -d)
@@ -122,6 +154,27 @@ function create_release {
     --notes-file "$changelog_file"
 }
 
+function determineNextVersion {
+    currentTag=$(git tag --list "${module}*"  --sort=-creatordate | head -n1)
+    currentVersion=$(echo ${currentTag##*/} | cut -d'v' -f2)
+    majorVer=$(echo $currentVersion | cut -d'.' -f1)
+    minorVer=$(echo $currentVersion | cut -d'.' -f2)
+    patchVer=$(echo $currentVersion | cut -d'.' -f3)
+
+    if [[ ${release_type} == "major" ]]; then
+      majorVer="$(($majorVer + 1))"
+    elif [[ ${release_type} == "minor" ]]; then
+      minorVer="$(($minorVer + 1))"
+    elif [[ ${release_type} == "patch" ]]; then
+      patchVer="$(($patchVer + 1))"
+    else
+      echo "Error: release_type not supported. Available values 'major', 'minor', 'patch'"
+      exit 1
+    fi
+
+    nextVersion="$majorVer.$minorVer.$patchVer"
+    return 
+}
 
 ## create release
 create_release "$git_tag"
diff --git a/releasing/helpers.sh b/releasing/helpers.sh
index 4da68f15158..acec8eedc35 100644
--- a/releasing/helpers.sh
+++ b/releasing/helpers.sh
@@ -2,12 +2,20 @@
 # Copyright 2022 The Kubernetes Authors.
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
+ORIGIN_MASTER="feat/5449-add-release-automation"
+UPSTREAM_REPO="upstream"
+UPSTREAM_MASTER="master"
 
 function createBranch {
   branch=$1
   title=$2
   echo "Making branch $branch : \"$title\""
-  git branch -D $branch  # delete if it exists
+  # Check if release branch exists
+  if git show-ref --quiet "refs/heads/${branch}"; then
+    git fetch --tags upstream master
+    git checkout $ORIGIN_MASTER
+    git branch -D $branch  # delete if it exists
+  fi
   git checkout -b $branch
   git commit -a -m "$title"
   git push -f origin $branch