diff --git a/docs/contributing/release.md b/docs/contributing/release.md
index 1909008824..c582ff968d 100644
--- a/docs/contributing/release.md
+++ b/docs/contributing/release.md
@@ -51,23 +51,12 @@ An example set of PRs are linked from [this](https://github.com/kubernetes/kops/
 
 See [1.5.0-alpha4 commit](https://github.com/kubernetes/kops/commit/a60d7982e04c273139674edebcb03c9608ba26a0) for example
 
-* Use the hack/set-version script to update versions:  `hack/set-version 1.20.0 1.20.1`
+* Use the hack/set-version script to update versions:  `hack/set-version 1.20.0`
 
-The syntax is `hack/set-version <new-release-version> <new-ci-version>`
+The syntax is `hack/set-version <new-release-version>`
 
 `new-release-version` is the version you are releasing.
 
-`new-ci-version` is the version you are releasing "plus one"; this is used to avoid CI jobs being out of semver order.
-
-Examples:
-
-| new-release-version  | new-ci-version
-| ---------------------| ---------------
-| 1.20.1               | 1.20.2
-| 1.21.0-alpha.1       | 1.21.0-alpha.2
-| 1.21.0-beta.1        | 1.21.0-beta.2
-
-
 * Update the golden tests: `hack/update-expected.sh`
 
 * Commit the changes (without pushing yet): `git commit -m "Release 1.X.Y"`
diff --git a/docs/release-process.md b/docs/release-process.md
index 4eda497fe0..cea0dc1b08 100644
--- a/docs/release-process.md
+++ b/docs/release-process.md
@@ -49,23 +49,12 @@ In order to create a new release branch off of master prior to a beta release, p
 
 See [1.19.0-alpha.1 PR](https://github.com/kubernetes/kops/pull/9494) for example
 
-* Use the hack/set-version script to update versions:  `hack/set-version 1.20.0 1.20.1`
+* Use the hack/set-version script to update versions:  `hack/set-version 1.20.0`
 
-The syntax is `hack/set-version <new-release-version> <new-ci-version>`
+The syntax is `hack/set-version <new-release-version>`
 
 `new-release-version` is the version you are releasing.
 
-`new-ci-version` is the version you are releasing "plus one"; this is used to avoid CI jobs being out of semver order.
-
-Examples:
-
-| new-release-version  | new-ci-version
-| ---------------------| ---------------
-| 1.20.1               | 1.20.2
-| 1.21.0-alpha.1       | 1.21.0-alpha.2
-| 1.21.0-beta.1        | 1.21.0-beta.2
-
-
 * Update the golden tests: `hack/update-expected.sh`
 
 * Commit the changes (without pushing yet): `git add -p && git commit -m "Release 1.X.Y"`
diff --git a/hack/set-version b/hack/set-version
index 8f2576bf98..f14dd0d595 100755
--- a/hack/set-version
+++ b/hack/set-version
@@ -17,12 +17,10 @@
 # This script helps with updating versions across the repo, updating the
 # multiple places where we encode a kops version number.
 
-# Use: hack/set-version <new-release-version> <new-ci-version>
+# Use: hack/set-version <new-release-version>
 
 # new-release-version is the version you are releasing.
 
-# new-ci-version is the version you are releasing + 1;
-# this is used to avoid CI jobs being out of semver order.
 #
 # Examples:
 # new-release-version  new-ci-version
@@ -34,13 +32,24 @@ set -e
 set -x
 
 NEW_RELEASE_VERSION=$1
-NEW_CI_VERSION=$2
 
-if [[ -z "${NEW_CI_VERSION}" ]]; then
-  echo "syntax $0 <new-release-version> <new-ci-version>"
+if [[ ! "${NEW_RELEASE_VERSION}" =~ ^([0-9]+[.][0-9]+)[.]([0-9]+)(-(alpha|beta)[.]([0-9]+))?$ ]]; then
+  echo "syntax $0 <new-release-version>"
+  echo "<new-relese-version> must be 'X.Y.Z', 'X.Y.Z-alpha.N', or 'X.Y.Z-beta.N'"
   exit 1
 fi
 
+MINOR=${BASH_REMATCH[1]}
+PATCH=${BASH_REMATCH[2]}
+PRERELEASE=${BASH_REMATCH[4]}
+PRERELEASE_SEQUENCE=${BASH_REMATCH[5]}
+
+if [[ -z "$PRERELEASE" ]]; then
+  NEW_CI_VERSION="${MINOR}."$(($PATCH + 1))
+else
+  NEW_CI_VERSION="${MINOR}.${PATCH}-${PRERELEASE}."$(($PRERELEASE_SEQUENCE + 1))
+fi
+
 KOPS_RELEASE_VERSION=`grep 'KOPS_RELEASE_VERSION\s*=' version.go  | awk '{print $3}' | sed -e 's_"__g'`
 KOPS_CI_VERSION=`grep 'KOPS_CI_VERSION\s*=' version.go  |  awk '{print $3}' | sed -e 's_"__g'`