diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c15777b..b6ed249 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ We originally wrote a prototype of this tool in Rust (https://github.com/metlos/
 
 ```
 $ ./configbump --help
-config-bump 7.75.0-SNAPSHOT
+config-bump 7.74.0-next
 Usage: configbump --dir DIR --labels LABELS [--namespace NAMESPACE]
 
 Options:
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index cf55e06..350370d 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-7.75.0-SNAPSHOT
+7.74.0-next
diff --git a/build/dockerfiles/Dockerfile b/build/dockerfiles/Dockerfile
index 6d40827..6d15f71 100644
--- a/build/dockerfiles/Dockerfile
+++ b/build/dockerfiles/Dockerfile
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ COPY . ./
 ARG VERSION=dev
 RUN GOOS=linux go build -a -ldflags '-w -s' -a -installsuffix cgo -o configbump cmd/configbump/main.go
 
-FROM docker.io/alpine:3.12
+FROM docker.io/alpine:3.18
 
 ARG BUILD_DATE
 ARG VCS_REF
diff --git a/cmd/configbump/main.go b/cmd/configbump/main.go
index 06ba56d..d100812 100644
--- a/cmd/configbump/main.go
+++ b/cmd/configbump/main.go
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ type opts struct {
 
 // Version returns the version of the program
 func (opts) Version() string {
-	return "config-bump 7.75.0-SNAPSHOT"
+	return "config-bump 7.74.0-next"
 }
 
 const controllerName = "config-bump"
diff --git a/make-release.sh b/make-release.sh
index b544fa2..12786b8 100755
--- a/make-release.sh
+++ b/make-release.sh
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ bump_version () {
 usage ()
 {
   echo "Usage: $0 --version [VERSION TO RELEASE] [--tag-release]"
-  echo "Example: $0 --version 7.75.0 --tag-release"; echo
+  echo "Example: $0 --version 7.74.0 --tag-release"; echo
 }
 
 if [[ ! ${VERSION} ]]; then
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@ if [[ "${BASEBRANCH}" != "${BRANCH}" ]]; then
 fi
 
 set -e
+set -x
 
 # change VERSION file
 echo "${VERSION}" > VERSION
@@ -103,7 +104,8 @@ echo "${VERSION}" > VERSION
 # commit change into branch
 if [[ ${NOCOMMIT} -eq 0 ]]; then
   COMMIT_MSG="chore: release: bump to ${VERSION} in ${BRANCH}"
-  git commit -asm "${COMMIT_MSG}" VERSION
+  git status -s || true
+  git commit -asm "${COMMIT_MSG}" || git diff || true
   git pull origin "${BRANCH}"
   git push origin "${BRANCH}"
 fi