diff --git a/.github/actions/prepare_release/action.yml b/.github/actions/create-release/action.yml
similarity index 52%
rename from .github/actions/prepare_release/action.yml
rename to .github/actions/create-release/action.yml
index 86c27c327b8..cce43d9348b 100644
--- a/.github/actions/prepare_release/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/create-release/action.yml
@@ -1,24 +1,18 @@
-name: prepare_release
-description: Prepare React Native release
+name: create_release
+description: Creates a new React Native release
 runs:
   using: composite
   steps:
     - name: Yarn install
       shell: bash
       run: yarn install --non-interactive
-    - name: Versioning workspace packages
-      shell: bash
-      run: |
-        node scripts/releases/set-version "${{ inputs.version }}" --skip-react-native-version
-    - name: Versioning react-native package
-      shell: bash
-      run: |
-        node scripts/releases/set-rn-version.js -v "<< parameters.version >>" --build-type "release"
     - name: Creating release commit
       shell: bash
       run: |
-        git commit -a -m "Release ${{ inputs.version }}" -m "#publish-packages-to-npm&${{ inputs.tag }}"
-        git tag -a "v${{ inputs.version }}" -m "v${{ inputs.version }}"
+        node scripts/releases/create-release-commit.js \
+          --reactNativeVersion "${{ inputs.version }}" \
+          --tagAsLatestRelease "${{ inputs.is_latest_on_npm }}" \
+          --dryRun "${{ inputs.dry_run }}"
         GIT_PAGER=cat git show HEAD
     - name: Update "latest" tag if needed
       shell: bash
diff --git a/.github/workflows/prepare-release.yml b/.github/workflows/create-release.yml
similarity index 61%
rename from .github/workflows/prepare-release.yml
rename to .github/workflows/create-release.yml
index e0af0de2241..85e14987843 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/prepare-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/create-release.yml
@@ -1,16 +1,17 @@
-name: Prepare Release
+name: Create release
 
 on:
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
       version:
-        description: 'The version of React Native we want to release'
+        description: 'The version of React Native we want to release. For example 0.75.0-rc.0'
         required: true
         type: string
-      tag:
-        description: 'The tag name that will be associated with the published npm packages. A tag of "latest" will also be written as a Git tag.'
+      is_latest_on_npm:
+        description: 'Whether we want to tag this release as latest on NPM'
         required: true
-        type: string
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
       dry_run:
         description: 'Whether the job should be executed in dry-run mode or not'
         type: boolean
@@ -33,6 +34,15 @@ jobs:
           fi
       - name: Print output
         run: echo "ON_STABLE_BRANCH ${{steps.check_stable_branch.outputs.ON_STABLE_BRANCH}}"
+      - name: Check if tag already exists
+        id: check_if_tag_exists
+        run: |
+          TAG="v${{ inputs.version }}"
+          TAG_EXISTS=$(git tag -l "$TAG")
+          if [[ -n "$TAG_EXISTS" ]]; then
+            echo "Version tag already exists!"
+            echo "TAG_EXISTS=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          fi
       - name: Execute Prepare Release
-        if: ${{ steps.check_stable_branch.outputs.ON_STABLE_BRANCH }}
-        uses: ./.github/actions/prepare_release
+        if: ${{ steps.check_stable_branch.outputs.ON_STABLE_BRANCH && !steps.check_if_tag_exists.outputs.TAG_EXISTS }}
+        uses: ./.github/actions/create-release
diff --git a/scripts/releases-local/README.md b/scripts/releases-local/README.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 38b818e601c..00000000000
--- a/scripts/releases-local/README.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-# scripts/releases-local
-
-Local-only release scripts.
-
-## Commands
-
-For information on command arguments, run `node <command> --help`.
-
-### `trigger-react-native-release.js`
-
-Trigger the external release publishing workflow on CircleCI.
diff --git a/scripts/releases-local/trigger-react-native-release.js b/scripts/releases-local/trigger-react-native-release.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 3d426f1a33c..00000000000
--- a/scripts/releases-local/trigger-react-native-release.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,223 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * Copyright (c) Meta Platforms, Inc. and affiliates.
- *
- * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
- * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
- *
- * @flow
- * @format
- * @oncall react_native
- */
-
-'use strict';
-
-const checkForGitChanges = require('../monorepo/check-for-git-changes');
-const {failIfTagExists} = require('../releases/utils/release-utils');
-const {
-  isReleaseBranch,
-  parseVersion,
-} = require('../releases/utils/version-utils');
-const {exitIfNotOnGit, getBranchName} = require('../scm-utils');
-const {getPackages} = require('../utils/monorepo');
-const chalk = require('chalk');
-const inquirer = require('inquirer');
-const request = require('request');
-const {echo, exit} = require('shelljs');
-const yargs = require('yargs');
-
-/**
- * This script walks a releaser through bumping the version for a release
- * It will commit the appropriate tags to trigger the CircleCI jobs.
- */
-
-let argv = yargs
-  .option('r', {
-    alias: 'remote',
-    default: 'origin',
-  })
-  .option('t', {
-    alias: 'token',
-    describe:
-      'Your GitHub personal API token. See https://docs.github.com/en/authentication/keeping-your-account-and-data-secure/managing-your-personal-access-tokens.',
-    required: true,
-  })
-  .option('v', {
-    alias: 'to-version',
-    describe: 'Version you aim to release, ex. 0.67.0-rc.1, 0.66.3',
-    required: true,
-  })
-  .option('dry-run', {
-    type: 'boolean',
-    default: false,
-  })
-  .check(() => {
-    const branch = exitIfNotOnGit(
-      () => getBranchName(),
-      "Not in git. You can't invoke trigger-react-native-release from outside a git repo.",
-    );
-    exitIfNotOnReleaseBranch(branch);
-    return true;
-  }).argv;
-
-function exitIfNotOnReleaseBranch(branch /*: string */) {
-  if (!isReleaseBranch(branch)) {
-    console.log(
-      'This script must be run in a react-native git repository checkout and on a release branch',
-    );
-    exit(1);
-  }
-}
-
-/**
- * Get the next version that all workspace packages will be set to.
- *
- * This approach is specific to the 0.74 release. For 0.75, the `--to-version`
- * value will be used instead, setting all packages to a single version.
- */
-async function getNextMonorepoPackagesVersion() /*: Promise<string | null> */ {
-  // Based on last publish before this strategy
-  const _0_74_MIN_PATCH = 75;
-
-  const packages = await getPackages({
-    includeReactNative: false,
-  });
-
-  let patchVersion = _0_74_MIN_PATCH;
-
-  for (const pkg of Object.values(packages)) {
-    const {version} = pkg.packageJson;
-
-    if (!version.startsWith('0.74.') || version.endsWith('-main')) {
-      return null;
-    }
-
-    const {patch} = parseVersion(version, 'release');
-    patchVersion = Math.max(patchVersion, parseInt(patch, 10) + 1);
-  }
-
-  return '0.74.' + patchVersion;
-}
-
-function triggerReleaseWorkflow(options /*: $FlowFixMe */) {
-  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-    request(options, function (error, response, body) {
-      if (error) {
-        reject(error);
-      } else {
-        resolve(body);
-      }
-    });
-  });
-}
-
-async function main() {
-  const branch = exitIfNotOnGit(
-    () => getBranchName(),
-    "Not in git. You can't invoke trigger-react-native-release from outside a git repo.",
-  );
-
-  // check for uncommitted changes
-  if (checkForGitChanges()) {
-    echo(
-      chalk.red(
-        'Found uncommitted changes. Please commit or stash them before running this script',
-      ),
-    );
-    exit(1);
-  }
-
-  // $FlowFixMe[prop-missing]
-  const token = argv.token;
-  // $FlowFixMe[prop-missing]
-  const releaseVersion = argv.toVersion;
-  failIfTagExists(releaseVersion, 'release');
-
-  const {pushed} = await inquirer.prompt({
-    type: 'confirm',
-    name: 'pushed',
-    message: `This script will trigger a release with whatever changes are on the remote branch: ${branch}. \nMake sure you have pushed any updates remotely.`,
-  });
-
-  if (!pushed) {
-    // $FlowFixMe[prop-missing]
-    console.log(`Please run 'git push ${argv.remote} ${branch}'`);
-    exit(1);
-    return;
-  }
-
-  let latest = false;
-  const {version, prerelease} = parseVersion(releaseVersion, 'release');
-  if (!prerelease) {
-    const {setLatest} = await inquirer.prompt({
-      type: 'confirm',
-      name: 'setLatest',
-      message: `Do you want to set ${version} as "latest" release on npm?`,
-    });
-    latest = setLatest;
-  }
-
-  const npmTag = latest ? 'latest' : !prerelease ? branch : 'next';
-  const {confirmRelease} = await inquirer.prompt({
-    type: 'confirm',
-    name: 'confirmRelease',
-    message: `Releasing version "${version}" with npm tag "${npmTag}". Is this correct?`,
-  });
-
-  if (!confirmRelease) {
-    console.log('Aborting.');
-    return;
-  }
-
-  let nextMonorepoPackagesVersion = await getNextMonorepoPackagesVersion();
-
-  if (nextMonorepoPackagesVersion == null) {
-    // TODO(T182538198): Once this warning is hit, we can remove the
-    // `release_monorepo_packages_version` logic from here and the CI jobs,
-    // see other TODOs.
-    console.warn(
-      'Warning: No longer on the 0.74-stable branch, meaning we will ' +
-        'write all package versions identically. Please double-check the ' +
-        'generated diff to see if this is correct.',
-    );
-    nextMonorepoPackagesVersion = version;
-  }
-
-  const parameters = {
-    version: version,
-    tag: npmTag,
-    // $FlowFixMe[prop-missing]
-    dry_run: argv.dryRun,
-  };
-
-  const options = {
-    method: 'POST',
-    url: 'https://api.github.com/repos/facebook/react-native/actions/workflows/prepare-release/dispatches',
-    headers: {
-      Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`,
-      Accept: 'application/vnd.github+json',
-      'X-GitHub-Api-Version': '2022-11-28',
-    },
-    body: {
-      ref: branch,
-      inputs: parameters,
-    },
-    json: true,
-  };
-
-  // See response: https://docs.github.com/en/rest/actions/workflows?apiVersion=2022-11-28#create-a-workflow-dispatch-event
-  await triggerReleaseWorkflow(options);
-  console.log(
-    // $FlowFixMe[incompatible-use]
-    'Monitor your release workflow: https://github.com/facebook/react-native/actions/workflows/prepare-release.yml',
-  );
-
-  // TODO
-  // - Output the release changelog to paste into Github releases
-  // - Link to release discussions to update
-  // - Verify RN-diff publish is through
-}
-
-// $FlowFixMe[unused-promise]
-main().then(() => {
-  exit(0);
-});
diff --git a/scripts/releases/README.md b/scripts/releases/README.md
index 2c9f4ce06f8..e929d6fea71 100644
--- a/scripts/releases/README.md
+++ b/scripts/releases/README.md
@@ -21,3 +21,7 @@ Updates relevant files in the `react-native` package and template to materialize
 ### `update-template-package`
 
 Updates workspace dependencies in the template app`package.json`
+
+### `create-release-commit`
+
+Creates a release commit to trigger a new release
diff --git a/scripts/releases/create-release-commit.js b/scripts/releases/create-release-commit.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..de240268be6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/releases/create-release-commit.js
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Meta Platforms, Inc. and affiliates.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ *
+ * @flow
+ * @format
+ * @oncall react_native
+ */
+
+const setVersion = require('../releases/set-version');
+const {getBranchName} = require('../scm-utils');
+const {parseVersion} = require('./utils/version-utils');
+const {execSync} = require('child_process');
+const yargs = require('yargs');
+
+async function main() {
+  const argv = await yargs
+    .option('reactNativeVersion', {
+      describe: 'The new React Native version.',
+      type: 'string',
+      required: true,
+    })
+    .option('tagAsLatestRelease', {
+      describe:
+        'Whether the version should be published as the latest version on npm.',
+      type: 'boolean',
+      default: false,
+    })
+    .option('dryRun', {
+      description: 'Whether we should push the commit to github or not',
+      type: 'boolean',
+      default: true,
+    }).argv;
+
+  const buildType = 'release';
+  const version = argv.reactNativeVersion;
+  const latest = argv.tagAsLatestRelease;
+  const dryRun = argv.dryRun;
+  const branch = getBranchName();
+  console.info(`Running on branch: ${branch}`);
+
+  console.info('Validating version', version);
+  const {prerelease} = parseVersion(version, buildType);
+
+  const npmTag = latest ? 'latest' : prerelease ? 'next' : branch;
+  console.info('NPM tag:', npmTag);
+
+  console.info('Setting version for monorepo packages and react-native');
+  await setVersion(version, false); // version, skip-react-native
+
+  if (dryRun) {
+    console.info('Running in dry-run mode, skipping git commit');
+    console.info(
+      `git commit -a -m "Release ${version}" -m "#publish-packages-to-npm&${npmTag}"`,
+    );
+    console.info(`git tag -a v${version} -m "v${version}"`);
+    return;
+  }
+
+  console.info('Committing to git');
+  execSync(
+    `git commit -a -m "Release ${version}" -m "#publish-packages-to-npm&${npmTag}"`,
+  );
+  execSync(`git tag -a v${version} -m "v${version}"`);
+}
+
+if (require.main === module) {
+  // eslint-disable-next-line no-void
+  void main();
+}