diff --git a/.github/workflows/create-release-pr.yml b/.github/workflows/create-release-pr.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b41ee6b09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/create-release-pr.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+name: Create Release PR
+
+# When code lands on master (not a release PR merge itself), automatically
+# create or update a "chore: release vX.Y.Z" pull request that bumps the
+# version.  Maintainers then merge that PR to trigger publishing.
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - master
+    # Only trigger for commits that touch package source files.
+    paths:
+      - 'packages/**'
+
+permissions:
+  contents: write
+  pull-requests: write
+
+jobs:
+  create-release-pr:
+    name: Create or Update Release PR
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    # Skip if this push is itself the merge of a release PR (prevents an
+    # infinite loop).  We catch both squash-merged and regular-merged commits.
+    if: |
+      github.repository == 'less/less.js' &&
+      !contains(github.event.head_commit.message, 'chore: release v') &&
+      !contains(github.event.head_commit.message, '/release-v')
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Install pnpm
+        uses: pnpm/action-setup@v4
+
+      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          node-version: 'lts/*'
+          cache: 'pnpm'
+
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        run: pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
+
+      - name: Determine next version
+        id: version
+        run: |
+          CURRENT=$(node -p "require('./packages/less/package.json').version")
+          NPM_VERSION=$(npm view less version 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+          NEXT=$(node -e "
+            const semver = require('semver');
+            const cur = process.argv[1];
+            const npm = process.argv[2] || null;
+            if (npm && semver.valid(cur) && semver.gt(cur, npm)) {
+              process.stdout.write(cur);
+            } else {
+              const base = npm || cur;
+              process.stdout.write(semver.inc(base, 'patch'));
+            }
+          " "$CURRENT" "$NPM_VERSION")
+          echo "next_version=$NEXT" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "branch=chore/release-v$NEXT" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+      - name: Configure Git
+        run: |
+          git config --global user.name "github-actions[bot]"
+          git config --global user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
+
+      - name: Create or update release branch and PR
+        env:
+          NEXT_VERSION: ${{ steps.version.outputs.next_version }}
+          RELEASE_BRANCH: ${{ steps.version.outputs.branch }}
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          TITLE="chore: release v${NEXT_VERSION}"
+
+          # Create or reset the release branch off the latest master so it
+          # always includes all recent commits.
+          if git ls-remote --exit-code origin "refs/heads/${RELEASE_BRANCH}" &>/dev/null; then
+            git fetch origin "${RELEASE_BRANCH}"
+            git checkout -B "${RELEASE_BRANCH}" origin/master
+          else
+            git checkout -b "${RELEASE_BRANCH}"
+          fi
+
+          # Bump version in all package.json files.
+          node -e "
+            const fs = require('fs');
+            const version = process.env.NEXT_VERSION;
+            const dirs = fs.readdirSync('packages', { withFileTypes: true })
+              .filter(d => d.isDirectory())
+              .map(d => 'packages/' + d.name + '/package.json');
+            for (const f of ['package.json', ...dirs].filter(f => fs.existsSync(f))) {
+              const pkg = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(f, 'utf8'));
+              if (!pkg.version) continue;
+              pkg.version = version;
+              fs.writeFileSync(f, JSON.stringify(pkg, null, '\t') + '\n');
+            }
+          "
+
+          git add package.json packages/*/package.json
+          if git diff --cached --quiet; then
+            echo "No version changes; branch is already at v${NEXT_VERSION}"
+          else
+            git commit -m "${TITLE}"
+          fi
+
+          # --force-with-lease refuses to overwrite if the remote has advanced
+          # past what we fetched, which protects against concurrent workflow
+          # runs.  This is intentional: if two code PRs land simultaneously the
+          # second run will fail-fast here and the release branch stays coherent.
+          git push origin "${RELEASE_BRANCH}" --force-with-lease
+
+          # Open a PR if one doesn't already exist for this version.
+          EXISTING=$(gh pr list --head "${RELEASE_BRANCH}" --base master \
+            --json number --jq '.[0].number' 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+
+          if [ -z "${EXISTING}" ]; then
+            BODY="## Release v${NEXT_VERSION}
+
+          This PR bumps the version to \`${NEXT_VERSION}\` and will trigger an npm publish when merged.
+
+          **Before merging:**
+          - [ ] Update CHANGELOG.md with changes for this release
+          - [ ] Verify all CI checks pass"
+
+            gh pr create \
+              --title "${TITLE}" \
+              --body "${BODY}" \
+              --base master \
+              --head "${RELEASE_BRANCH}"
+            echo "✅ Created release PR for v${NEXT_VERSION}"
+          else
+            echo "✅ Release PR #${EXISTING} already exists; branch updated to include latest master commits"
+          fi
diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish.yml b/.github/workflows/publish.yml
index f9b589735..bcb381828 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish.yml
@@ -1,15 +1,23 @@
 name: Publish to NPM
 
 on:
-  push:
+  # Master: publish when a "chore: release vX.Y.Z" pull request is merged.
+  # The release PR is created automatically by create-release-pr.yml.
+  pull_request:
+    types: [closed]
     branches:
       - master
+  # Alpha: publish on direct push to the alpha branch.
+  push:
+    branches:
       - alpha
     paths-ignore:
       - '**.md'
       - 'docs/**'
       - '.gitignore'
       - '.claude/**'
+      - '.github/**'
+      - 'scripts/**'
 
 permissions:
   id-token: write  # Required for OIDC trusted publishing
@@ -19,15 +27,29 @@ jobs:
   publish:
     name: Publish to NPM
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    # Only run on the upstream repo, not forks
-    if: github.repository == 'less/less.js'
-    
+    # Master: only run when a release PR (title = "chore: release v*") is merged.
+    # Alpha:  only run on direct pushes; skip if it's a version-bump commit
+    #         (prevents the bump-and-publish script from triggering itself).
+    if: |
+      github.repository == 'less/less.js' &&
+      (
+        (github.event_name == 'pull_request' &&
+         github.event.pull_request.merged == true &&
+         startsWith(github.event.pull_request.title, 'chore: release v')) ||
+        (github.event_name == 'push' &&
+         github.ref_name == 'alpha' &&
+         !startsWith(github.event.head_commit.message, 'chore: bump version to'))
+      )
+
     steps:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
           token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          # For PR events check out the base branch (master) post-merge so the
+          # version bump from the release PR is already present.
+          ref: ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request' && github.event.pull_request.base.ref || github.ref }}
 
       - name: Install pnpm
         uses: pnpm/action-setup@v4
@@ -57,7 +79,13 @@ jobs:
       - name: Determine branch and tag type
         id: branch-info
         run: |
-          BRANCH="${{ github.ref_name }}"
+          # For PR events the branch is the PR's base (master); for push events
+          # it is the pushed branch (alpha).
+          if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" = "pull_request" ]; then
+            BRANCH="${{ github.event.pull_request.base.ref }}"
+          else
+            BRANCH="${{ github.ref_name }}"
+          fi
           echo "branch=$BRANCH" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           if [ "$BRANCH" = "alpha" ]; then
             echo "is_alpha=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
@@ -137,7 +165,9 @@ jobs:
       - name: Bump version and publish
         id: publish
         env:
-          GITHUB_REF_NAME: ${{ github.ref_name }}
+          # Use the branch name resolved by the branch-info step above rather
+          # than repeating the PR-vs-push detection logic here.
+          GITHUB_REF_NAME: ${{ steps.branch-info.outputs.branch }}
         run: |
           pnpm run publish
           
diff --git a/scripts/bump-and-publish.js b/scripts/bump-and-publish.js
index cf87db3e8..d731d2deb 100755
--- a/scripts/bump-and-publish.js
+++ b/scripts/bump-and-publish.js
@@ -6,9 +6,17 @@
  * This script:
  * 1. Determines the next version (patch increment or explicit)
  * 2. Updates all package.json files to the same version
- * 3. Creates a git tag
- * 4. Commits version changes
- * 5. Publishes all packages to NPM
+ * 3. Creates and pushes an annotated git tag
+ * 4. Publishes all packages to NPM
+ * 
+ * For master, the version-bump commit is NOT pushed here.  Instead it arrives
+ * via the "chore: release vX.Y.Z" pull request created by create-release-pr.yml.
+ * Merging that PR triggers this script, at which point package.json already has
+ * the target version.  Only the git tag is pushed — tag pushes are not subject
+ * to branch-protection "require pull request" rules.
+ * 
+ * For the alpha branch, the traditional commit + branch-push flow is preserved
+ * because alpha does not use the PR-based release flow.
  */
 
 const fs = require('fs');
@@ -318,17 +326,23 @@ function main() {
     console.log(`   [DRY RUN] Would create tag: ${tagName}`);
   }
   
-  // Push commit and tag
-  console.log(`📤 Pushing to ${branch}...`);
-  if (!dryRun) {
-    try {
+  // For master the version-bump commit already lives in master (it came from
+  // the release PR).  Only push the git tag — tag pushes bypass branch
+  // protection "require pull request" rules.
+  // For alpha (direct-push branch) we still push the bump commit to the branch.
+  if (!isMaster) {
+    console.log(`📤 Pushing to ${branch}...`);
+    if (!dryRun) {
       execSync(`git push origin ${branch}`, { cwd: ROOT_DIR, stdio: 'inherit' });
-      execSync(`git push origin "${tagName}"`, { cwd: ROOT_DIR, stdio: 'inherit' });
-    } catch (e) {
-      console.log(`⚠️  Push failed, but continuing with publish...`);
+    } else {
+      console.log(`   [DRY RUN] Would push to: origin ${branch}`);
     }
+  }
+
+  console.log(`📤 Pushing tag ${tagName}...`);
+  if (!dryRun) {
+    execSync(`git push origin "${tagName}"`, { cwd: ROOT_DIR, stdio: 'inherit' });
   } else {
-    console.log(`   [DRY RUN] Would push to: origin ${branch}`);
     console.log(`   [DRY RUN] Would push tag: origin ${tagName}`);
   }
   
@@ -451,7 +465,7 @@ function main() {
     publishErrors.forEach(({ name, error }) => {
       console.error(`   - ${name}: ${error}`);
     });
-    console.error(`\n⚠️  Note: Version bump and commit were successful.`);
+    console.error(`\n⚠️  Note: Version bump commit and tag were pushed successfully.`);
     console.error(`   Some packages failed to publish. You may need to publish them manually.`);
     process.exit(1);
   }