diff --git a/.gitlab/issue_templates/release.md b/.gitlab/issue_templates/release.md
index eb2dae0c3c..101edddf36 100644
--- a/.gitlab/issue_templates/release.md
+++ b/.gitlab/issue_templates/release.md
@@ -29,3 +29,4 @@
  - [ ] (Manager) Inform marketing of the release
 
  - [ ] (SwEng) Update DEB and RPM packages
+ - [ ] (SwEng) Merge the automatically prepared `prep 9.X.Y` commit which updates `version` and documentation on the release branch into the relevant maintenance branch (`v9_X`)