diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index 1c071e2206..1c1162518a 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -620,14 +620,17 @@ workflows:
               only:
                 - dev
       - prepare_release:
+          name: "Prepare major release"
           release_type: "major"
           requires:
             - prepare_major_release_approval
       - prepare_release:
+          name: "Prepare minor release"
           release_type: "minor"
           requires:
             - prepare_minor_release_approval
       - prepare_release:
+          name: "Prepare patch release"
           release_type: "patch"
           requires:
             - prepare_patch_release_approval
diff --git a/NEXT_CHANGELOG.md b/NEXT_CHANGELOG.md
index 87356e3867..7ee4ddf7fa 100644
--- a/NEXT_CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/NEXT_CHANGELOG.md
@@ -200,6 +200,14 @@ Rust MSRV incremented to 1.65.
 
 By [@bryncooke](https://github.com/bryncooke) in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/2221 and https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/2240
 
+### Improve automated release ([Pull #2220](https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/2256))
+
+Improved the automated release to:
+* Update the scaffold files
+* Improve the names of prepare release steps in circle.
+
+By [@bryncooke](https://github.com/bryncooke) in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/2256
+
 ### Use Elastic-2.0 license spdx ([PR #2055](https://github.com/apollographql/router/issues/2055))
 
 Now that the Elastic-2.0 spdx is a valid identifier in the rust ecosystem, we can update the router references.
diff --git a/xtask/src/commands/release.rs b/xtask/src/commands/release.rs
index 7e959c0117..15aee7f9cb 100644
--- a/xtask/src/commands/release.rs
+++ b/xtask/src/commands/release.rs
@@ -384,6 +384,17 @@ impl Prepare {
         for package in packages {
             cargo!(["set-version", &version, "--package", package])
         }
+        replace_in_file!(
+            "./apollo-router-scaffold/templates/base/Cargo.toml",
+            "^apollo-router\\s*=\\s*\"\\d+.\\d+.\\d+\"",
+            format!("apollo-router = \"{}\"", version)
+        );
+        replace_in_file!(
+            "./apollo-router-scaffold/templates/base/xtask/Cargo.toml",
+            "^apollo-router-scaffold = \\{ git=\"https://github.com/apollographql/router.git\", tag\\s*=\\s*\"v\\d+.\\d+.\\d+\"\\s*\\}",
+            format!("apollo-router-scaffold = {{ git=\"https://github.com/apollographql/router.git\", tag = \"v{}\" }}", version)
+        );
+
         Ok(version)
     }