diff --git a/.ci/build.sh b/.ci/build.sh
index 480b19307e..ac5986007b 100755
--- a/.ci/build.sh
+++ b/.ci/build.sh
@@ -55,6 +55,13 @@ function build() {
     # stop early for invalid maven version and branch/tag combination
     pmd_ci_maven_verify_version || exit 0
 
+    # skip tests when doing a release build - this makes the process faster
+    # it's a manual task now to verify that a release is only started, when the main branch
+    # was green before. This is usually checked via a local build, see ./do-release.sh
+    if pmd_ci_maven_isReleaseBuild; then
+        PMD_MAVEN_EXTRA_OPTS+=(-DskipTests=true)
+    fi
+
     if [ "$(pmd_ci_utils_get_os)" != "linux" ]; then
         pmd_ci_log_group_start "Build with mvnw"
             ./mvnw clean verify --show-version --errors --batch-mode --no-transfer-progress "${PMD_MAVEN_EXTRA_OPTS[@]}"
diff --git a/do-release.sh b/do-release.sh
index 7a42d9be4e..60d060c944 100755
--- a/do-release.sh
+++ b/do-release.sh
@@ -165,26 +165,13 @@ git commit -a -m "Prepare pmd release ${RELEASE_VERSION}"
     fi
 )
 
-# for release candidates, allow snapshot dependencies
-if [[ "${RELEASE_VERSION}" == *-rc* ]]; then
-  ./mvnw versions:set -DnewVersion="${RELEASE_VERSION}" -DgenerateBackupPoms=false
-  git commit -S -a -m "[release] prepare release pmd_releases/${RELEASE_VERSION}"
-  git tag -a -s -m "[release] tag pmd_releases/${RELEASE_VERSION}" "pmd_releases/${RELEASE_VERSION}"
-  # test build
-  ./mvnw clean verify -Denforcer.skip=true
-  ./mvnw versions:set -DnewVersion="${DEVELOPMENT_VERSION}" -DgenerateBackupPoms=false
-  git commit -S -a -m "[release] prepare for next development iteration"
-  # push
-  git push origin
-  git push origin tag "pmd_releases/${RELEASE_VERSION}"
-else
-  ./mvnw -B release:clean release:prepare \
-      -Dtag="pmd_releases/${RELEASE_VERSION}" \
-      -DreleaseVersion="${RELEASE_VERSION}" \
-      -DdevelopmentVersion="${DEVELOPMENT_VERSION}" \
-      -DscmCommentPrefix="[release] " \
-      -Pgenerate-rule-docs
-fi
+./mvnw -B release:clean release:prepare \
+    -Dtag="pmd_releases/${RELEASE_VERSION}" \
+    -DreleaseVersion="${RELEASE_VERSION}" \
+    -DdevelopmentVersion="${DEVELOPMENT_VERSION}" \
+    -DscmCommentPrefix="[release] " \
+    -Pgenerate-rule-docs
+
 
 echo
 echo "Tag has been pushed.... now check github actions: <https://github.com/pmd/pmd/actions>"