diff --git a/scripts/release.sh b/scripts/release.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..beb9594
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+git checkout master
+git pull
+
+version=$(jq -r .release version.json)
+
+# branch off ${version}
+echo "Cutting nix-darwin-${version} release branch"
+
+git checkout -b "nix-darwin-${version}"
+
+sed -i -e "s!- master!- nix-darwin-${version}!" .github/workflows/test.yml
+sed -i -e "s!NIXPKGS_BRANCH: nixpkgs-unstable!NIXPKGS_BRANCH: nixpkgs-${version}-darwin!" .github/workflows/test.yml
+
+sed -i -e "s!nixpkgs-unstable!nixpkgs-${version}-darwin!" modules/examples/flake/flake.nix
+sed -i -e "s!github:nix-darwin/nix-darwin/master!github:nix-darwin/nix-darwin/nix-darwin-${version}!" modules/examples/flake/flake.nix
+
+sed -i -e "s!nixpkgs/unstable!nixpkgs/stable!g" modules/nix/nixpkgs.nix
+
+sed -i -e "s!nixpkgs-unstable!nixpkgs-${version}-darwin!" flake.nix
+nix flake lock
+
+cat <<EOF > README.md
+# nix-darwin
+
+This is the ${version} release branch of nix-darwin. See [the main readme](https://github.com/nix-darwin/nix-darwin#readme) for documentation
+EOF
+
+cat <<EOF > version.json
+{
+  "release": "${version}",
+  "isReleaseBranch": true
+}
+EOF
+
+git add .
+git commit -m "version: branch off ${version}"
+
+# update master
+echo "Updating master to point to next version"
+
+git checkout master
+
+## update version.json to point to the next version
+
+IFS='.' read -r major minor <<< "$version"
+
+if [[ "$minor" = "11" ]]; then
+    major=$(( major + 1 ))
+    minor="05"
+else
+    minor="11"
+fi
+
+cat <<EOF > version.json
+{
+  "release": "${major}.${minor}",
+  "isReleaseBranch": false
+}
+EOF
+
+## update readme so that instructions refer to the version we're cutting (our supported stable version)
+
+sed -i -e "s![0-9][0-9]\.[0-9][0-9]!${version}!g" README.md
+
+git add .
+git commit -m "version: bump to ${major}.${minor}"
+
+nix flake update
+
+git add .
+git commit -m "flake.lock: update"