diff --git a/.github/workflows/operator-hub-release.yaml b/.github/workflows/operator-hub-release.yaml
index a1c27fe..09df8a6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/operator-hub-release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/operator-hub-release.yaml
@@ -9,9 +9,28 @@ on:
       repo:
         type: string
         required: true
+      release_ref:
+        type: string
+        required: true
     secrets:
       BOT_TOKEN:
         required: true
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      org:
+        description: Organization that owns the target repository
+        required: true
+        type: string
+        default: k8s-operatorhub
+      repo:
+        description: Target repository name
+        required: true
+        type: string
+        default: community-operators
+      release_ref:
+        description: Release tag to publish from (for example v0.4.0)
+        required: true
+        type: string
 
 permissions:
   contents: read
@@ -26,12 +45,26 @@ jobs:
       contents: write
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - name: Set version from tag
+      - name: Validate and prepare release values
+        id: prepare_release
         env:
-          TAG: ${{ github.ref_name }}
+          RELEASE_REF_INPUT: ${{ inputs.release_ref }}
         run: |
-          TAG=${TAG:1}
-          echo "VERSION=${TAG}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          TAG="${RELEASE_REF_INPUT#refs/tags/}"
+          VERSION="${TAG#v}"
+
+          if [ -z "${TAG}" ]; then
+            echo "A release tag is required. Pass release_ref (for example v0.4.0)." >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          if ! git ls-remote --exit-code --tags "https://github.com/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}.git" "refs/tags/${TAG}" >/dev/null; then
+            echo "release_ref must be an existing tag in ${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}: ${TAG}" >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          echo "release_ref=${TAG}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "version=${VERSION}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
       - name: Sync fork
         env:
@@ -51,7 +84,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/checkout@v6
         with:
           repository: ${{ github.repository }}
-          ref: ${{ github.ref_name }}
+          ref: ${{ steps.prepare_release.outputs.release_ref }}
           path: tmp/
 
       - name: Set up Go
@@ -65,6 +98,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Copy bundle to versioned directory
         run: |
+          VERSION="${{ steps.prepare_release.outputs.version }}"
           mkdir -p operators/${OPERATOR_NAME}/${VERSION}
           cp -R tmp/bundle/manifests operators/${OPERATOR_NAME}/${VERSION}/
           cp -R tmp/bundle/metadata operators/${OPERATOR_NAME}/${VERSION}/
@@ -74,6 +108,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Create pull request
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.BOT_TOKEN }}
+          VERSION: ${{ steps.prepare_release.outputs.version }}
         run: |
           git config user.name ${{ env.BOT_USER }}
           git config user.email ${{ env.BOT_USER }}@users.noreply.github.com
diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-operator-hub.yaml b/.github/workflows/publish-operator-hub.yaml
index fdba0b0..431f3b5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-operator-hub.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-operator-hub.yaml
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ jobs:
     with:
       org: k8s-operatorhub
       repo: community-operators
+      release_ref: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}
     secrets:
       # NOTE: BOT_TOKEN is a PAT (repo scope) for the persesbot account
       # Required to sync and push to persesbot's fork of community-operators