diff --git a/RELEASING.md b/RELEASING.md
index f487c18fc9b18..dac7ee89b17c7 100644
--- a/RELEASING.md
+++ b/RELEASING.md
@@ -40,6 +40,16 @@ process is dependent on the version change.
 8. Commit the changes above with message `"Start vNEW_MAJOR.NEW_MINOR+1"`
 9. [All done](https://i.giphy.com/media/3ohzdIvnUKKjiAZTSU/giphy.webp)
 
+## Fixing Up a Release
+
+If you tried to cut a release and the CI failed for some unexpected reason, you can follow these steps to recover:
+
+1. Switch to the `v$VERSION` branch.
+1. Delete the `v$VERSION` tag.
+1. Cherry pick the commits directly to the branch.
+1. Run `make release` while still on that branch.
+1. Commit and tag accordingly.
+1. Cherry pick that commit back to master so that the release is carried over.
 
 [All done]: https://i.giphy.com/media/3ohzdIvnUKKjiAZTSU/giphy.webp
 [`/Cargo.toml`]: /Cargo.toml
diff --git a/scripts/release-commit.rb b/scripts/release-commit.rb
index 8d3b2663ffedd..c9da012feb227 100755
--- a/scripts/release-commit.rb
+++ b/scripts/release-commit.rb
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ def bump_version(content, version)
 end
 
 def release_exists?(release)
-  errors = `git rev-parse v#{release.version} 2>&1 >/dev/null`
+  errors = `git rev-parse tags/v#{release.version} 2>&1 >/dev/null`
   errors == ""
 end