diff --git a/.travis/render_release_notes.rb b/.travis/render_release_notes.rb
index ec856974cc..e1dd76fa8d 100755
--- a/.travis/render_release_notes.rb
+++ b/.travis/render_release_notes.rb
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 # ARGV[0] : location of the file to render
 
 require "liquid"
-require "yaml"
+require "safe_yaml"
 
 # include some custom liquid extensions
 require_relative "../docs/_plugins/rule_tag"
@@ -24,8 +24,12 @@ end
 
 release_notes_file = ARGV[0]
 
-# wrap the config under a "site." namespace because that's how jekyll does it
-liquid_env = {'site' => YAML.load_file("docs/_config.yml")}
+liquid_env = {
+    # wrap the config under a "site." namespace because that's how jekyll does it
+    'site' => YAML.load_file("docs/_config.yml"),
+    # This signals the links in {% rule %} tags that they should be rendered as absolute
+    'is_release_notes_processor' => true
+}
 
 
 to_render = File.read(release_notes_file)
diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index e83b9a4e44..021d709a97 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -2,5 +2,8 @@ source 'https://rubygems.org/'
 
 gem 'pmdtester', '~> 1.0.0.pre.beta3'
 gem 'danger', '~> 5.6', '>= 5.6'
+gem 'liquid', '>=4.0.0'
+gem 'safe_yaml', '>=1.0'
+
 
 # vim: syntax=ruby
diff --git a/docs/_plugins/custom_filters.rb b/docs/_plugins/custom_filters.rb
index 3d77f8af0c..42ca4b0fef 100644
--- a/docs/_plugins/custom_filters.rb
+++ b/docs/_plugins/custom_filters.rb
@@ -68,6 +68,19 @@ module CustomFilters
     end
   end
 
+  # Append the suffix only if the condition argument is truthy
+  def append_if(str, condition, suffix)
+    if condition
+      str + suffix
+    else
+      str
+    end
+  end
+
+  def append_unless(str, condition, suffix)
+    append_if(str, !condition, suffix)
+  end
+
   def render_markdown(input)
     if input
       res = input
diff --git a/docs/_plugins/rule_tag.rb b/docs/_plugins/rule_tag.rb
index cdcf1d940f..0e81e64bdd 100644
--- a/docs/_plugins/rule_tag.rb
+++ b/docs/_plugins/rule_tag.rb
@@ -49,8 +49,10 @@ class RuleTag < Liquid::Tag
 
 
     url_prefix = ""
-    if (version = context["site.pmd.version"])
-      url_prefix = "https://pmd.github.io/pmd-#{version}/"
+    # This is passed from the release notes processing script
+    # When generating links for the release notes, the links should be absolute
+    if context["is_release_notes_processor"]
+      url_prefix = "https://pmd.github.io/pmd-#{context["site.pmd.version"]}/"
     end
 
     markup_link(@rule_name, url_prefix + relativelink(@lang_name, @category_name, @rule_name))
diff --git a/docs/pages/pmd/projectdocs/committers/releasing.md b/docs/pages/pmd/projectdocs/committers/releasing.md
index da930570a5..5800289cac 100644
--- a/docs/pages/pmd/projectdocs/committers/releasing.md
+++ b/docs/pages/pmd/projectdocs/committers/releasing.md
@@ -25,12 +25,9 @@ Make sure code is up to date and everything is committed and pushed with git:
 
 ### The Release Notes and docs
 
-At a very minimum, the current date must be noted in the release notes and the download section. Also, the version
-must be adjusted. E.g. by removing "-SNAPSHOT".
-
 You can find the release notes here: `docs/pages/release_notes.md`.
 
-The date for the download section is to be entered in `docs/_config.yml`, e.g.
+The date and the version must be updated in `docs/_config.yml`,  e.g.
 
 ```
 pmd:
@@ -148,7 +145,7 @@ permalink: pmd_release_notes.html
 keywords: changelog, release notes
 ---
 
-## {{ site.pmd.date }} - {{ site.pmd.version }}
+## {{ site.pmd.date }} - {{ site.pmd.version | append_unless: is_release_version, "-SNAPSHOT" }}
 
 The PMD team is pleased to announce PMD {{ site.pmd.version }}.
 
diff --git a/docs/pages/release_notes.md b/docs/pages/release_notes.md
index 13f31e86d2..e9aa02fd69 100644
--- a/docs/pages/release_notes.md
+++ b/docs/pages/release_notes.md
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ permalink: pmd_release_notes.html
 keywords: changelog, release notes
 ---
 
-## {{ site.pmd.date }} - {{ site.pmd.version }}
+## {{ site.pmd.date }} - {{ site.pmd.version | append_unless: is_release_version, "-SNAPSHOT" }}
 
 The PMD team is pleased to announce PMD {{ site.pmd.version }}.