diff --git a/dev-support/create-release/do-release-docker.sh b/dev-support/create-release/do-release-docker.sh
index cda814cfbf1b..b6874b3365d0 100755
--- a/dev-support/create-release/do-release-docker.sh
+++ b/dev-support/create-release/do-release-docker.sh
@@ -59,24 +59,22 @@ function usage {
   local NAME
   NAME="$(basename "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")"
   cat <<EOF
-Usage: $NAME [options]
-
-This script runs the release scripts inside a docker image.
-
+Usage: $NAME [OPTIONS]
+Runs release scripts inside a docker image.
 Options:
-
-  -d [path]    required. working directory. output will be written to "output" in here.
+  -d [path]    Required. Working directory. Output will be written to "output" in here.
   -f           "force" -- actually publish this release. Unless you specify '-f', it will
-               default to dry run mode, which checks and does local builds, but does not upload anything.
-  -t [tag]     tag for the hbase-rm docker image to use for building (default: "latest").
-  -j [path]    path to local JDK installation to use building. By default the script will
+               default to dry run mode, which checks and does local builds, but does not
+               upload anything.
+  -t [tag]     Tag for the hbase-rm docker image to use for building (default: "latest").
+  -j [path]    Path to local JDK installation to use building. By default the script will
                use openjdk8 installed in the docker image.
-  -p [project] project to build, such as 'hbase' or 'hbase-thirdparty'; defaults to $PROJECT env var
-  -r [repo]    git repo to use for remote git operations. defaults to ASF gitbox for project.
-  -s [step]    runs a single step of the process; valid steps are: tag|publish-dist|publish-release.
+  -p [project] Project to build: e.g. 'hbase' or 'hbase-thirdparty'; defaults to PROJECT env var
+  -r [repo]    Git repo to use for remote git operations. defaults to ASF gitbox for project.
+  -s [step]    Runs a single step of the process; valid steps: tag|publish-dist|publish-release.
                If none specified, runs tag, then publish-dist, and then publish-release.
                'publish-snapshot' is also an allowed, less used, option.
-  -x           debug. Does less clean up (env file, gpg forwarding on mac)
+  -x           Debug. Does less clean up (env file, gpg forwarding on mac)
 EOF
   exit 1
 }
diff --git a/dev-support/create-release/release-util.sh b/dev-support/create-release/release-util.sh
index d907253dffe6..6d1dcd2ca4ec 100755
--- a/dev-support/create-release/release-util.sh
+++ b/dev-support/create-release/release-util.sh
@@ -179,24 +179,26 @@ function get_release_info {
   # - If not, need to check whether the previous version has been already released or not.
   #   - If it has, then we're building RC0 of the current version.
   #   - If it has not, we're building the next RC of the previous version.
-  local RC_COUNT
-  if [ "$REV" != 0 ]; then
-    local PREV_REL_REV=$((REV - 1))
-    PREV_REL_TAG="rel/${SHORT_VERSION}.${PREV_REL_REV}"
-    if git ls-remote --tags "$ASF_REPO" "$PREV_REL_TAG" | grep -q "refs/tags/${PREV_REL_TAG}$" ; then
-      RC_COUNT=0
+  if [[ -z "${RC_COUNT}" ]]; then
+    local RC_COUNT
+    if [ "$REV" != 0 ]; then
+      local PREV_REL_REV=$((REV - 1))
+      PREV_REL_TAG="rel/${SHORT_VERSION}.${PREV_REL_REV}"
+      if git ls-remote --tags "$ASF_REPO" "$PREV_REL_TAG" | grep -q "refs/tags/${PREV_REL_TAG}$" ; then
+        RC_COUNT=0
+        REV=$((REV + 1))
+        NEXT_VERSION="${SHORT_VERSION}.${REV}-SNAPSHOT"
+      else
+        RELEASE_VERSION="${SHORT_VERSION}.${PREV_REL_REV}"
+        RC_COUNT="$(git ls-remote --tags "$ASF_REPO" "${RELEASE_VERSION}RC*" | wc -l)"
+        # This makes a 'number' of it.
+        RC_COUNT=$((RC_COUNT))
+      fi
+    else
       REV=$((REV + 1))
       NEXT_VERSION="${SHORT_VERSION}.${REV}-SNAPSHOT"
-    else
-      RELEASE_VERSION="${SHORT_VERSION}.${PREV_REL_REV}"
-      RC_COUNT="$(git ls-remote --tags "$ASF_REPO" "${RELEASE_VERSION}RC*" | wc -l)"
-      # This makes a 'number' of it.
-      RC_COUNT=$((RC_COUNT))
+      RC_COUNT=0
     fi
-  else
-    REV=$((REV + 1))
-    NEXT_VERSION="${SHORT_VERSION}.${REV}-SNAPSHOT"
-    RC_COUNT=0
   fi
 
   RELEASE_VERSION="$(read_config "RELEASE_VERSION" "$RELEASE_VERSION")"
@@ -204,8 +206,10 @@ function get_release_info {
   export RELEASE_VERSION NEXT_VERSION
 
   RC_COUNT="$(read_config "RC_COUNT" "$RC_COUNT")"
-  RELEASE_TAG="${RELEASE_VERSION}RC${RC_COUNT}"
-  RELEASE_TAG="$(read_config "RELEASE_TAG" "$RELEASE_TAG")"
+  if [[ -z "${RELEASE_TAG}" ]]; then
+    RELEASE_TAG="${RELEASE_VERSION}RC${RC_COUNT}"
+    RELEASE_TAG="$(read_config "RELEASE_TAG" "$RELEASE_TAG")"
+  fi
 
   # Check if the RC already exists, and if re-creating the RC, skip tag creation.
   SKIP_TAG=0
@@ -236,12 +240,14 @@ function get_release_info {
   GIT_NAME="$(read_config "GIT_NAME" "$GIT_NAME")"
 
   GIT_EMAIL="$ASF_USERNAME@apache.org"
-  GPG_KEY="$(read_config "GPG_KEY" "$GIT_EMAIL")"
+  if [[ -z "${GPG_KEY}" ]]; then
+    GPG_KEY="$(read_config "GPG_KEY" "$GIT_EMAIL")"
+  fi
   if ! GPG_KEY_ID=$("${GPG}" "${GPG_ARGS[@]}" --keyid-format 0xshort --list-public-key "${GPG_KEY}" | grep "\[S\]" | grep -o "0x[0-9A-F]*") ||
       [ -z "${GPG_KEY_ID}" ] ; then
     GPG_KEY_ID=$("${GPG}" "${GPG_ARGS[@]}" --keyid-format 0xshort --list-public-key "${GPG_KEY}" | head -n 1 | grep -o "0x[0-9A-F]*" || true)
   fi
-  read -r -p "We think the key '${GPG_KEY}' corresponds to the key id '${GPG_KEY_ID}'. Is this correct [y/n]? " ANSWER
+  read -r -p "Does the GPG key '${GPG_KEY}' corresponds to the GPG key id '${GPG_KEY_ID}'. Is this correct [y/n]? " ANSWER
   if [ "$ANSWER" = "y" ]; then
     GPG_KEY="${GPG_KEY_ID}"
   fi