diff --git a/tools/release/prompt/new-version-prompt.ts b/tools/release/prompt/new-version-prompt.ts
index 8be1183da85c..2926a3ad5565 100644
--- a/tools/release/prompt/new-version-prompt.ts
+++ b/tools/release/prompt/new-version-prompt.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import {ChoiceType, prompt} from 'inquirer';
+import {ChoiceType, prompt, Separator} from 'inquirer';
 import {createNewVersion, ReleaseType} from '../version-name/create-version';
 import {parseVersionName, Version} from '../version-name/parse-version';
 import {determineAllowedPrereleaseLabels} from './prerelease-labels';
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ type VersionPromptAnswers = {
 export async function promptForNewVersion(currentVersion: Version): Promise<Version> {
   const allowedPrereleaseChoices = determineAllowedPrereleaseLabels(currentVersion);
   const versionChoices: ChoiceType[] = [];
+  const currentVersionName = currentVersion.format();
 
   if (currentVersion.prereleaseLabel) {
     versionChoices.push(
@@ -39,6 +40,11 @@ export async function promptForNewVersion(currentVersion: Version): Promise<Vers
       createVersionChoice(currentVersion, 'patch', 'Patch release'));
   }
 
+  // We always want to provide the option to use the current version. This is useful
+  // if the version got bumped manually before.
+  versionChoices.push(new Separator(),
+    {name: `Use current version (${currentVersionName})`, value: currentVersionName});
+
   const answers = await prompt<VersionPromptAnswers>([{
     type: 'list',
     name: 'proposedVersion',
@@ -48,8 +54,10 @@ export async function promptForNewVersion(currentVersion: Version): Promise<Vers
     type: 'confirm',
     name: 'isPrerelease',
     message: 'Should this be a pre-release?',
-    // Prompt whether this should a pre-release if the current release is not a pre-release
-    when: !currentVersion.prereleaseLabel,
+    // We don't want to prompt whether this should be a pre-release if the current version
+    // is already a pre-release or if the version has been already bumped manually.
+    when: ({proposedVersion}) =>
+      !currentVersion.prereleaseLabel && proposedVersion !== currentVersionName,
     default: false,
   }, {
     type: 'list',
diff --git a/tools/release/publish-release.ts b/tools/release/publish-release.ts
index 1b5ab3df617f..f9dc4b8dba5d 100644
--- a/tools/release/publish-release.ts
+++ b/tools/release/publish-release.ts
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ class PublishReleaseTask extends BaseReleaseTask {
     // Branch that will be used to build the output for the release of the current version.
     const publishBranch = this.switchToPublishBranch(newVersion);
 
-    this._verifyLastCommitVersionBump();
+    this._verifyLastCommitFromStagingScript();
     this.verifyLocalCommitsMatchUpstream(publishBranch);
 
     const upstreamRemote = await this._getProjectUpstreamRemote();
@@ -147,13 +147,13 @@ class PublishReleaseTask extends BaseReleaseTask {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Verifies that the latest commit on the current branch is a version bump from the
-   * staging script.
+   * Verifies that the latest commit on the current branch has been created
+   * through the release staging script.
    */
-  private _verifyLastCommitVersionBump() {
-    if (!/chore: bump version/.test(this.git.getCommitTitle('HEAD'))) {
-      console.error(red(`  ✘   The latest commit of the current branch does not seem to be a ` +
-        `version bump.`));
+  private _verifyLastCommitFromStagingScript() {
+    if (!/chore: (bump version|update changelog for)/.test(this.git.getCommitTitle('HEAD'))) {
+      console.error(red(`  ✘   The latest commit of the current branch does not seem to be ` +
+        ` created by the release staging script.`));
       console.error(red(`      Please stage the release using the staging script.`));
       process.exit(1);
     }
diff --git a/tools/release/stage-release.ts b/tools/release/stage-release.ts
index 8f5d92879d2b..2464420fbffd 100644
--- a/tools/release/stage-release.ts
+++ b/tools/release/stage-release.ts
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ class StageReleaseTask extends BaseReleaseTask {
 
     const newVersion = await promptForNewVersion(this.currentVersion);
     const newVersionName = newVersion.format();
+    const needsVersionBump = !newVersion.equalsTo(this.currentVersion);
     const stagingBranch = `release-stage/${newVersionName}`;
 
     // After the prompt for the new version, we print a new line because we want the
@@ -97,11 +98,13 @@ class StageReleaseTask extends BaseReleaseTask {
       process.exit(1);
     }
 
-    this._updatePackageJsonVersion(newVersionName);
+    if (needsVersionBump) {
+      this._updatePackageJsonVersion(newVersionName);
 
-    console.log(green(`  ✓   Updated the version to "${bold(newVersionName)}" inside of the ` +
-      `${italic('package.json')}`));
-    console.log();
+      console.log(green(`  ✓   Updated the version to "${bold(newVersionName)}" inside of the ` +
+        `${italic('package.json')}`));
+      console.log();
+    }
 
     await promptAndGenerateChangelog(join(this.projectDir, CHANGELOG_FILE_NAME));
 
@@ -119,7 +122,14 @@ class StageReleaseTask extends BaseReleaseTask {
     }
 
     this.git.stageAllChanges();
-    this.git.createNewCommit(`chore: bump version to ${newVersionName} w/ changelog`);
+
+    // Note: When updating the commit messages here. Please also update the
+    // release publish script to detect the new commit messages.
+    if (needsVersionBump) {
+      this.git.createNewCommit(`chore: bump version to ${newVersionName} w/ changelog`);
+    } else {
+      this.git.createNewCommit(`chore: update changelog for ${newVersionName}`);
+    }
 
     console.info();
     console.info(green(`  ✓   Created the staging commit for: "${newVersionName}".`));
diff --git a/tools/release/version-name/parse-version.ts b/tools/release/version-name/parse-version.ts
index bc9fba5bf76f..347b1625b06b 100644
--- a/tools/release/version-name/parse-version.ts
+++ b/tools/release/version-name/parse-version.ts
@@ -2,18 +2,17 @@
 const versionNameRegex = /^(\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)(?:-(alpha|beta|rc)\.(\d)+)?$/;
 
 export class Version {
-
   constructor(
-    /** Major version number */
-    public major: number,
-    /** Minor version number */
-    public minor: number,
-    /** Patch version number */
-    public patch: number,
-    /** Pre-release label for the version (e.g. alpha, beta, rc) */
-    public prereleaseLabel?: string,
-    /** Number for the pre-release. There can be multiple pre-releases for a version. */
-    public prereleaseNumber?: number) {}
+      /** Major version number */
+      public major: number,
+      /** Minor version number */
+      public minor: number,
+      /** Patch version number */
+      public patch: number,
+      /** Pre-release label for the version (e.g. alpha, beta, rc) */
+      public prereleaseLabel: string|null,
+      /** Number for the pre-release. There can be multiple pre-releases for a version. */
+      public prereleaseNumber: number|null) {}
 
   /** Serializes the version info into a string formatted version name. */
   format(): string {
@@ -21,8 +20,14 @@ export class Version {
   }
 
   clone(): Version {
-    return new Version(this.major, this.minor, this.patch, this.prereleaseLabel,
-      this.prereleaseNumber);
+    return new Version(
+        this.major, this.minor, this.patch, this.prereleaseLabel, this.prereleaseNumber);
+  }
+
+  equalsTo(other: Version): boolean {
+    return this.major === other.major && this.minor === other.minor && this.patch === other.patch &&
+        this.prereleaseLabel === other.prereleaseLabel &&
+        this.prereleaseNumber === other.prereleaseNumber;
   }
 }
 
@@ -30,7 +35,7 @@ export class Version {
  * Parses the specified version and returns an object that represents the individual
  * version segments.
  */
-export function parseVersionName(version: string): Version | null {
+export function parseVersionName(version: string): Version|null {
   const matches = version.match(versionNameRegex);
 
   if (!matches) {
@@ -38,11 +43,8 @@ export function parseVersionName(version: string): Version | null {
   }
 
   return new Version(
-    Number(matches[1]),
-    Number(matches[2]),
-    Number(matches[3]),
-    matches[4],
-    Number(matches[5]));
+      Number(matches[1]), Number(matches[2]), Number(matches[3]), matches[4] || null,
+      Number(matches[5]) || null);
 }
 
 /** Serializes the specified version into a string. */
@@ -51,7 +53,7 @@ export function serializeVersion(newVersion: Version): string {
 
   let versionString = `${major}.${minor}.${patch}`;
 
-  if (prereleaseLabel && !isNaN(prereleaseNumber)) {
+  if (prereleaseLabel && prereleaseNumber !== null) {
     versionString += `-${prereleaseLabel}.${prereleaseNumber}`;
   }