diff --git a/tasks/release b/tasks/release
index 4bf2bd2..cba1c83 100755
--- a/tasks/release
+++ b/tasks/release
@@ -4,7 +4,29 @@ if [ "$1" == "--preview" ] || [ "$1" == "-P" ] || [ "$1" == "-p" ]; then
   # Preview release
   $RACKT_PATH/node_modules/rf-release/node_modules/.bin/changelog -t preview -s
 else
+  # build task has to be run prior to release module
+  # the release module is what prompts for next version number
+  # version is needed in order to update the package.json generated by build task
+  # we are left prompting for version, and updating build/package.json ourselves
+  # the version gathered here can then be provided to the release module
+
+  update_version() {
+    echo "$(node -p "p=require('./${1}');p.version='${2}';JSON.stringify(p,null,2)")" > $1
+    echo "Updated ${1} version to ${2}"
+  }
+
+  current_version=$(node -p "require('./package').version")
+
+  printf "Next version (current is $current_version)? "
+  read next_version
+
+  if ! [[ $next_version =~ ^[0-9]\.[0-9]+\.[0-9](-.+)? ]]; then
+    echo "Version must be a valid semver string, e.g. 1.0.2 or 2.3.0-beta.1"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
   # Release to npm
   $RACKT_PATH/tasks/build
-  $RACKT_PATH/node_modules/.bin/release -f ./build
+  update_version 'build/package.json' $next_version
+  $RACKT_PATH/node_modules/.bin/release -v $next_version -f ./build
 fi