diff --git a/AUTHORS b/AUTHORS
index 0d2364083..153375dca 100644
--- a/AUTHORS
+++ b/AUTHORS
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ Ahn Ki-Wook
 Akiomi Kamakura
 Alan Velasco
 Alexander Johnson
+Alexander King
 Alexei Kozlenok
 Allan Feldman
 Aly Sivji
diff --git a/scripts/prepare-release-pr.py b/scripts/prepare-release-pr.py
index 82da553cb..f16e7b962 100644
--- a/scripts/prepare-release-pr.py
+++ b/scripts/prepare-release-pr.py
@@ -54,8 +54,16 @@ def prepare_release_pr(
 
     check_call(["git", "checkout", f"origin/{base_branch}"])
 
+    changelog = Path("changelog")
+
+    features = list(changelog.glob("*.feature.rst"))
+    breaking = list(changelog.glob("*.breaking.rst"))
+    is_feature_release = bool(features or breaking)
+
     try:
-        version = find_next_version(base_branch, is_major, prerelease)
+        version = find_next_version(
+            base_branch, is_major, is_feature_release, prerelease
+        )
     except InvalidFeatureRelease as e:
         print(f"{Fore.RED}{e}")
         raise SystemExit(1)
@@ -80,9 +88,24 @@ def prepare_release_pr(
 
     print(f"Branch {Fore.CYAN}{release_branch}{Fore.RESET} created.")
 
+    if prerelease:
+        template_name = "release.pre.rst"
+    elif is_feature_release:
+        template_name = "release.minor.rst"
+    else:
+        template_name = "release.patch.rst"
+
     # important to use tox here because we have changed branches, so dependencies
     # might have changed as well
-    cmdline = ["tox", "-e", "release", "--", version, "--skip-check-links"]
+    cmdline = [
+        "tox",
+        "-e",
+        "release",
+        "--",
+        version,
+        template_name,
+        "--skip-check-links",
+    ]
     print("Running", " ".join(cmdline))
     run(
         cmdline,
@@ -107,7 +130,9 @@ def prepare_release_pr(
     print(f"Pull request {Fore.CYAN}{pr.url}{Fore.RESET} created.")
 
 
-def find_next_version(base_branch: str, is_major: bool, prerelease: str) -> str:
+def find_next_version(
+    base_branch: str, is_major: bool, is_feature_release: bool, prerelease: str
+) -> str:
     output = check_output(["git", "tag"], encoding="UTF-8")
     valid_versions = []
     for v in output.splitlines():
@@ -118,12 +143,6 @@ def find_next_version(base_branch: str, is_major: bool, prerelease: str) -> str:
     valid_versions.sort()
     last_version = valid_versions[-1]
 
-    changelog = Path("changelog")
-
-    features = list(changelog.glob("*.feature.rst"))
-    breaking = list(changelog.glob("*.breaking.rst"))
-    is_feature_release = features or breaking
-
     if is_major:
         return f"{last_version[0]+1}.0.0{prerelease}"
     elif is_feature_release:
diff --git a/scripts/release.pre.rst b/scripts/release.pre.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f0b054de3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/release.pre.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+pytest-{version}
+=======================================
+
+The pytest team is proud to announce the {version} prerelease!
+
+This is a prerelease, not intended for production use, but to test the upcoming features and improvements
+in order to catch any major problems before the final version is released to the major public.
+
+We appreciate your help testing this out before the final release, making sure to report any
+regressions to our issue tracker:
+
+https://github.com/pytest-dev/pytest/issues
+
+When doing so, please include the string ``[prerelease]`` in the title.
+
+You can upgrade from PyPI via:
+
+    pip install pytest=={version}
+
+Users are encouraged to take a look at the CHANGELOG carefully:
+
+    https://docs.pytest.org/en/stable/changelog.html
+
+Thanks to all the contributors to this release:
+
+{contributors}
+
+Happy testing,
+The pytest Development Team
diff --git a/scripts/release.py b/scripts/release.py
index 090712cbd..27fc68292 100644
--- a/scripts/release.py
+++ b/scripts/release.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from colorama import Fore
 from colorama import init
 
 
-def announce(version):
+def announce(version, template_name):
     """Generates a new release announcement entry in the docs."""
     # Get our list of authors
     stdout = check_output(["git", "describe", "--abbrev=0", "--tags"])
@@ -22,9 +22,6 @@ def announce(version):
 
     contributors = {name for name in stdout.splitlines() if not name.endswith("[bot]")}
 
-    template_name = (
-        "release.minor.rst" if version.endswith(".0") else "release.patch.rst"
-    )
     template_text = (
         Path(__file__).parent.joinpath(template_name).read_text(encoding="UTF-8")
     )
@@ -81,9 +78,9 @@ def check_links():
     check_call(["tox", "-e", "docs-checklinks"])
 
 
-def pre_release(version, *, skip_check_links):
+def pre_release(version, template_name, *, skip_check_links):
     """Generates new docs, release announcements and creates a local tag."""
-    announce(version)
+    announce(version, template_name)
     regen(version)
     changelog(version, write_out=True)
     fix_formatting()
@@ -108,9 +105,16 @@ def main():
     init(autoreset=True)
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
     parser.add_argument("version", help="Release version")
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "template_name", help="Name of template file to use for release announcement"
+    )
     parser.add_argument("--skip-check-links", action="store_true", default=False)
     options = parser.parse_args()
-    pre_release(options.version, skip_check_links=options.skip_check_links)
+    pre_release(
+        options.version,
+        options.template_name,
+        skip_check_links=options.skip_check_links,
+    )
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":