diff --git a/cli/release.go b/cli/release.go
index e4ac1f246e..87e4966124 100644
--- a/cli/release.go
+++ b/cli/release.go
@@ -321,6 +321,12 @@ func getNewReleaseType(current semver.Version, latest semver.Version) (string, e
 		}
 	} else if latest.Patch == current.Patch && len(latest.Pre) > 0 {
 		desc = "pre-release"
+	} else if latest.Major == current.Major &&
+		latest.Minor == current.Minor &&
+		latest.Patch == current.Patch {
+		if len(current.Pre) > 0 && len(latest.Pre) == 0 {
+			desc = "major"
+		}
 	} else {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("BUG: unhandled scenario: current version: %s, latest version: %s", current, latest)
 	}
diff --git a/cli/release_test.go b/cli/release_test.go
index c68650e6f9..fc5b46cbad 100644
--- a/cli/release_test.go
+++ b/cli/release_test.go
@@ -488,6 +488,12 @@ func TestGetNewReleaseType(t *testing.T) {
 		{"1.0.0", "1.0.3", false, "patch"},
 		{"1.0.0-beta29", "1.0.0-beta30", false, "pre-release"},
 		{"1.0.0", "1.0.3-alpha99.1b", false, "patch pre-release"},
+
+		{"2.0.0-rc0", "2.0.0", false, "major"},
+		{"2.0.0-rc1", "2.0.0", false, "major"},
+
+		{"1.12.0-rc0", "1.12.0", false, "major"},
+		{"1.12.0-rc5", "1.12.0", false, "major"},
 	}
 
 	for i, d := range data {