diff --git a/scripts/build-docker.sh b/scripts/build-docker.sh
index 6d4e3bbf3d166..7c97470950995 100755
--- a/scripts/build-docker.sh
+++ b/scripts/build-docker.sh
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ build() {
 
 echo "Building $REPO:* Docker images"
 
-if [[ "$CHANNEL" == "latest" ]]; then
+if [[ "$CHANNEL" == "release" ]]; then
   VERSION_EXACT="$VERSION"
   # shellcheck disable=SC2001
   VERSION_MINOR_X=$(echo "$VERSION" | sed 's/\.[0-9]*$/.X/g')
diff --git a/scripts/release-s3.sh b/scripts/release-s3.sh
index 1fcfb726491b0..c082aa7a3f410 100755
--- a/scripts/release-s3.sh
+++ b/scripts/release-s3.sh
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ if [[ "$CHANNEL" == "nightly" ]]; then
     "https://packages.timber.io/vector/nightly/latest/vector-nightly-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz" \
     "$td_nightly/vector-nightly-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz"
 
-elif [[ "$CHANNEL" == "latest" ]]; then
+elif [[ "$CHANNEL" == "release" ]]; then
   VERSION_EXACT="$VERSION"
   # shellcheck disable=SC2001
   VERSION_MINOR_X="$(echo "$VERSION" | sed 's/\.[0-9]*$/.X/g')"
diff --git a/vdev/src/app.rs b/vdev/src/app.rs
index ba57ddeeb57ed..0a99eb9aa8f78 100644
--- a/vdev/src/app.rs
+++ b/vdev/src/app.rs
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ pub fn version() -> Result<String> {
 
     let channel = util::get_channel();
 
-    if channel == "latest" {
+    if channel == "release" {
         let head = util::git_head()?;
         if !head.status.success() {
             let error = String::from_utf8_lossy(&head.stderr);
diff --git a/vdev/src/commands/build/publish_metadata.rs b/vdev/src/commands/build/publish_metadata.rs
index b9d290e916690..a3a0dc6c56168 100644
--- a/vdev/src/commands/build/publish_metadata.rs
+++ b/vdev/src/commands/build/publish_metadata.rs
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ use std::io::{self, Write};
 /// Setting necessary metadata for our publish workflow in CI.
 ///
 /// Responsible for setting necessary metadata for our publish workflow in CI.
-/// Computes the Vector version (from Cargo.toml), the release channel (nightly vs latest), which Cloudsmith
+/// Computes the Vector version (from Cargo.toml), the release channel (nightly vs release), which Cloudsmith
 /// repository to publish to, and more. All of this information is emitted in a way that sets native outputs on the
 /// GitHub Actions workflow step running the script, which can be passed on to subsequent jobs/steps.
 #[derive(clap::Args, Debug)]
diff --git a/vdev/src/commands/release/channel.rs b/vdev/src/commands/release/channel.rs
index ea3a37684c197..5a21e6f544cad 100644
--- a/vdev/src/commands/release/channel.rs
+++ b/vdev/src/commands/release/channel.rs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ use anyhow::Result;
 
 use crate::util::get_channel;
 
-/// Provide the release channel (latest/nightly/custom).
+/// Provide the release channel (release/nightly/custom).
 /// This command is intended for use only within GitHub build workflows.
 // This script is used across various release scripts to determine where distribute archives,
 // packages, etc.