diff --git a/.github/workflows/deployment.yaml b/.github/workflows/deployment.yaml
index c3a57f6..bac1312 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/deployment.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/deployment.yaml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - run: make install
       - run: make compile
-      - name: Publish to npm
+      - name: Semantic Release
         run: npx semantic-release
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
@@ -31,4 +31,4 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Post-release sync
         run: ./utils/ci/sync.sh
-        if: success() && endsWith(github.ref, 'release')
+        if: success()
diff --git a/makefile b/makefile
index 15d64d4..3178f9a 100644
--- a/makefile
+++ b/makefile
@@ -85,10 +85,10 @@ pristine: distclean
 	rm -rf node_modules
 
 release/latest:
-	utils/make/release.sh release
+	utils/make/release.sh release/latest
 
 release/next:
-	utils/make/release.sh release/next noclean
+	utils/make/release.sh release/next
 
 .PHONY: force
 
diff --git a/release.config.js b/release.config.js
index 486a7e0..49a731c 100644
--- a/release.config.js
+++ b/release.config.js
@@ -4,10 +4,8 @@ module.exports = {
   // eslint-disable-next-line no-template-curly-in-string
   tagFormat: '${version}',
   branches: [
-    // TODO: Ideally the default release branch would be release/latest
-    // but semantic-release refuses to work with a default branch with a slash, apparently 🤷‍♂️
-    { name: 'release' },
-    { name: 'release/next', channel: 'next', prerelease: 'beta' },
+    { name: 'release/latest', channel: 'latest' },
+    { name: 'release/next', channel: 'next', prerelease: 'alpha' },
   ],
 
   plugins: [
diff --git a/utils/ci/sync.sh b/utils/ci/sync.sh
index ed0faed..ca28976 100755
--- a/utils/ci/sync.sh
+++ b/utils/ci/sync.sh
@@ -2,15 +2,17 @@
 
 set -o errexit
 
+head=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
+
 printf "\n=====>\tFetching new commits...\n"
 
 # Ensure we are merging the release into current branch tips to avoid pushes being rejected
 git fetch origin
 
-printf "\n=====>\tMerging to master...\n"
+printf "\n=====>\tMerging to master: %s...\n" "${head}"
 
 git checkout master
-git merge release
+git merge "${head}"
 
 # Print the repo status after merging, for troubleshooting purposes
 git status
@@ -19,6 +21,3 @@ git log --oneline HEAD~10..HEAD
 printf "\n=====>\tPushing...\n"
 
 git push origin master
-
-printf "\n=====>\tCleaning up...\n"
-git push origin :release
diff --git a/utils/make/release.sh b/utils/make/release.sh
index bb0da37..1f23bd4 100755
--- a/utils/make/release.sh
+++ b/utils/make/release.sh
@@ -1,16 +1,19 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
 branch="$1"
-noclean="$2"
 
 set -o errexit
 
 head=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
 
-printf "\n=====>\tCreating release branch: %s...\n" "${branch}"
+printf "\n=====>\tChecking out release branch: %s...\n" "${branch}"
 
 git checkout -B "${branch}"
 
+printf "\n=====>\tMerging %s...\n" "${head}"
+
+git merge --message "chore: release" "${head}"
+
 printf "\n=====>\tPushing...\n"
 
 git push --set-upstream origin "${branch}"
@@ -19,10 +22,4 @@ printf "\n=====>\tSwitching back to previous branch: %s...\n" "${head}"
 
 git checkout "${head}"
 
-if [ "${noclean}" != "noclean" ]; then
-  printf "\n=====>\tDeleting local release branch: %s...\n" "${branch}"
-
-  git branch --delete "${branch}"
-fi
-
 printf "\n=====>\tRelease in progress: https://github.com/strvcom/heimdall/actions\n"