diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 2aff0bb48e5..c7436653578 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -19,6 +19,17 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11
+      - name: Pre-process Release Name
+        id: pre_process_release_name
+        run: |
+            RELEASE_NAME="${{ github.event.release.name }}"
+            # strip all whitespace
+            RELEASE_NAME="${RELEASE_NAME//[[:space:]]/}"
+            if [[ ! "$RELEASE_NAME" =~ ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)?(-.*)?$ ]]; then
+              echo "Release name does not conform to a valid besu release format YY.M.v[-suffix], e.g. 24.8.0-RC1."
+              exit 1
+            fi
+            echo "RELEASE_NAME=$RELEASE_NAME" >> $GITHUB_ENV  # Store in environment variable
       - name: Set up Java
         uses: actions/setup-java@387ac29b308b003ca37ba93a6cab5eb57c8f5f93
         with:
@@ -30,7 +41,7 @@ jobs:
           cache-disabled: true
       - name: assemble release
         run:
-          ./gradlew -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{github.event.release.name}} -Pversion=${{github.event.release.name}} assemble
+          ./gradlew -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{env.RELEASE_NAME}} -Pversion=${{env.RELEASE_NAME}} assemble
       - name: hashes
         id: hashes
         run: |
@@ -43,13 +54,13 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@5d5d22a31266ced268874388b861e4b58bb5c2f3
         with:
           path: 'build/distributions/besu*.tar.gz'
-          name: besu-${{ github.event.release.name }}.tar.gz
+          name: besu-${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}.tar.gz
           compression-level: 0
       - name: upload zipfile
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@5d5d22a31266ced268874388b861e4b58bb5c2f3
         with:
           path: 'build/distributions/besu*.zip'
-          name: besu-${{ github.event.release.name }}.zip
+          name: besu-${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}.zip
           compression-level: 0
 
   testWindows:
@@ -121,7 +132,7 @@ jobs:
         env:
           ARTIFACTORY_USER: ${{ secrets.BESU_ARTIFACTORY_USER }}
           ARTIFACTORY_KEY: ${{ secrets.BESU_ARTIFACTORY_TOKEN }}
-        run: ./gradlew -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ github.event.release.name }} -Pversion=${{github.event.release.name}} artifactoryPublish
+        run: ./gradlew -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }} -Pversion=${{env.RELEASE_NAME}} artifactoryPublish
 
   hadolint:
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
@@ -195,11 +206,11 @@ jobs:
           architecture: ${{ steps.prep.outputs.ARCH }}
         with:
           cache-disabled: true
-          arguments: testDocker -PdockerOrgName=${{ env.registry }}/${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }} -Pversion=${{github.event.release.name}} -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ github.event.release.name }}
+          arguments: testDocker -PdockerOrgName=${{ env.registry }}/${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }} -Pversion=${{env.RELEASE_NAME}} -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}
       - name: publish
         env:
           architecture: ${{ steps.prep.outputs.ARCH }}
-        run: ./gradlew --no-daemon dockerUpload -PdockerOrgName=${{ env.registry }}/${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }} -Pversion=${{github.event.release.name}} -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ github.event.release.name }}
+        run: ./gradlew --no-daemon dockerUpload -PdockerOrgName=${{ env.registry }}/${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }} -Pversion=${{env.RELEASE_NAME}} -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}
 
   multiArch:
     needs: buildDocker
@@ -226,7 +237,7 @@ jobs:
           username: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_USER_RW }}
           password: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_PASSWORD_RW }}
       - name: multi-arch docker
-        run: ./gradlew manifestDocker -PdockerOrgName=${{ env.registry }}/${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }} -Pversion=${{github.event.release.name}} -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ github.event.release.name }}
+        run: ./gradlew manifestDocker -PdockerOrgName=${{ env.registry }}/${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }} -Pversion=${{env.RELEASE_NAME}} -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}
 
   amendNotes:
     needs: multiArch
@@ -239,7 +250,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           append_body: true
           body: |
-            `docker pull ${{env.registry}}/${{secrets.DOCKER_ORG}}/besu:${{github.event.release.name}}`
+            `docker pull ${{env.registry}}/${{secrets.DOCKER_ORG}}/besu:${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}`
 
   dockerPromoteX64:
     needs: multiArch
@@ -262,9 +273,9 @@ jobs:
         with:
           cache-disabled: true
       - name: Docker upload
-        run: ./gradlew "-Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ github.event.release.name }}" "-PdockerOrgName=${{ env.registry }}/${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }}" dockerUploadRelease
+        run: ./gradlew "-Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}" "-PdockerOrgName=${{ env.registry }}/${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }}" dockerUploadRelease
       - name: Docker manifest
-        run: ./gradlew "-Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ github.event.release.name }}" "-PdockerOrgName=${{ env.registry }}/${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }}" manifestDockerRelease
+        run: ./gradlew "-Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}" "-PdockerOrgName=${{ env.registry }}/${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }}" manifestDockerRelease
 
   verifyContainer:
     needs: dockerPromoteX64
@@ -276,6 +287,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11
       - name: Trigger container verify
-        run: echo '{"version":"${{ github.event.release.name }}","verify-latest-version":"true"}' | gh workflow run container-verify.yml --json
+        run: echo '{"version":"${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}","verify-latest-version":"true"}' | gh workflow run container-verify.yml --json
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}