diff --git a/scripts/release/release.sh b/scripts/release/release.sh
index a5e3a3b04..85fcebc1c 100755
--- a/scripts/release/release.sh
+++ b/scripts/release/release.sh
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ current_version() {
 
 current_release_branch() {
   v="$(current_version)"
-  echo "release-${v%%-"$PRERELEASE_SUFFIX".*}"
+  echo "release-${v%.*-"$PRERELEASE_SUFFIX".*}"
 }
 
 assert_current_branch() {
diff --git a/scripts/release/update-changelog-release-date.js b/scripts/release/update-changelog-release-date.js
index 1c5523374..d9fb3955b 100755
--- a/scripts/release/update-changelog-release-date.js
+++ b/scripts/release/update-changelog-release-date.js
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 const fs = require('fs');
 const cp = require('child_process');
 
+const suffix = process.env.PRERELEASE_SUFFIX || 'rc';
+
 const changelog = fs.readFileSync('CHANGELOG.md', 'utf8');
 
 // The changelog entry to be updated looks like this:
@@ -13,15 +15,21 @@ const changelog = fs.readFileSync('CHANGELOG.md', 'utf8');
 // We need to add the version and release date in a YYYY-MM-DD format, so that it looks like this:
 // ## 2.5.3 (2019-04-25)
 
+const pkg = require('../../package.json');
+const version = pkg.version.replace(new RegExp('-' + suffix + '\\..*'), '');
+
 const unreleased = /^## Unreleased$/im;
+const released = new RegExp(`^## ${version} \\([-\\d]*\\)$`, 'm');
+
+if (released.test(changelog)) {
+  process.exit(0);
+}
 
 if (!unreleased.test(changelog)) {
   console.error('Missing changelog entry');
   process.exit(1);
 }
 
-const { version } = require('../../package.json');
-
 fs.writeFileSync('CHANGELOG.md', changelog.replace(
   unreleased,
   `## ${version} (${new Date().toISOString().split('T')[0]})`),