diff --git a/__tests__/Action.test.ts b/__tests__/Action.test.ts
index 2bf0bcf8..6425fd83 100644
--- a/__tests__/Action.test.ts
+++ b/__tests__/Action.test.ts
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ const updateBody = 'updateBody'
 const updateDraft = false
 const updateName = 'updateName'
 const updatePrerelease = false
+const updateOnlyUnreleased = false
 const url = 'http://api.example.com'
 
 describe("Action", () => {
@@ -317,7 +318,9 @@ describe("Action", () => {
         expect(applyReleaseDataMock).toBeCalledWith({id: releaseId, upload_url: url})
     }
 
-    function createAction(allowUpdates: boolean, hasArtifact: boolean, removeArtifacts: boolean = false): Action {
+    function createAction(allowUpdates: boolean,
+                          hasArtifact: boolean,
+                          removeArtifacts: boolean = false): Action {
         let inputArtifact: Artifact[]
         if (hasArtifact) {
             inputArtifact = artifacts
@@ -379,7 +382,8 @@ describe("Action", () => {
                 updatedDraft: updateDraft,
                 updatedReleaseBody: updateBody,
                 updatedReleaseName: updateName,
-                updatedPrerelease: updatePrerelease
+                updatedPrerelease: updatePrerelease,
+                updateOnlyUnreleased: updateOnlyUnreleased
             }
         })
         const MockOutputs = jest.fn<Outputs, any>(() => {
diff --git a/__tests__/Integration.test.ts b/__tests__/Integration.test.ts
index 9d83cea8..c5ad0380 100644
--- a/__tests__/Integration.test.ts
+++ b/__tests__/Integration.test.ts
@@ -57,7 +57,8 @@ describe.skip('Integration Test', () => {
                 updatedDraft: false,
                 updatedReleaseBody: "This release was generated by release-action's integration test",
                 updatedReleaseName: "Releases Action Integration Test",
-                updatedPrerelease: false
+                updatedPrerelease: false,
+                updateOnlyUnreleased: false
             }
         })
         return new MockInputs();
diff --git a/src/Inputs.ts b/src/Inputs.ts
index d61cc3ba..e326f367 100644
--- a/src/Inputs.ts
+++ b/src/Inputs.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ export interface Inputs {
     readonly updatedReleaseBody?: string
     readonly updatedReleaseName?: string
     readonly updatedPrerelease?: boolean
+    readonly updateOnlyUnreleased: boolean
 }
 
 export class CoreInputs implements Inputs {
@@ -209,6 +210,10 @@ export class CoreInputs implements Inputs {
         if (CoreInputs.omitName || CoreInputs.omitNameDuringUpdate) return undefined
         return this.name
     }
+    
+    get updateOnlyUnreleased(): boolean {
+        return core.getInput('updateOnlyUnreleased') == 'true'
+    }
 
     private static get omitNameDuringUpdate(): boolean {
         return core.getInput('omitNameDuringUpdate') == 'true'
diff --git a/src/ReleaseValidator.ts b/src/ReleaseValidator.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..21fc7173
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ReleaseValidator.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+import {Inputs} from "./Inputs";
+import {ReleaseByTagResponse} from "./Releases";
+
+export class ReleaseValidator {
+    constructor(private inputs: Inputs) {
+    }
+    
+    validateReleaseUpdate(releaseResponse: ReleaseByTagResponse) {
+        if (!this.inputs.updateOnlyUnreleased) {
+            return
+        }
+        
+        if (!releaseResponse.data.draft && !releaseResponse.data.prerelease) {
+            throw new Error("Tried to update ${releaseResponse.data.name} which is neither a draft or prerelease. (updateOnlyUnreleased is on)")
+        }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file