diff --git a/.github/scripts/validate_version.sh b/.github/scripts/validate_version.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..36f1b693
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/scripts/validate_version.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -e
+
+if [ $# -ne 1 ]; then
+    echo "Usage: $0 <version>"
+    echo "Example: $0 3.6.4"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+version="$1"
+
+echo "Validating version: $version"
+
+if [[ ! $version =~ ^(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)(-((0|[1-9][0-9]*|[0-9]*[a-zA-Z-][0-9a-zA-Z-]*)(\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*|[0-9]*[a-zA-Z-][0-9a-zA-Z-]*))*))?(\+([0-9a-zA-Z-]+(\.[0-9a-zA-Z-]+)*))?$ ]]; then
+    echo "Error: Invalid semver format: \"$version\". Must be something like 1.2.3 without leading \"v\""
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "✓ Valid semver format"
+
+existing_tags=$(git tag --sort=-version:refname)
+
+if [ -z "$existing_tags" ]; then
+    echo "No existing versions found, allowing version $version"
+    exit 0
+fi
+
+if echo "$existing_tags" | grep -q "^v$version$"; then
+    echo "Error: Version $version already exists as a release"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+latest_version=$(echo "$existing_tags" | head -1 | sed 's/^v//')
+echo "Latest existing version: $latest_version"
+echo "Proposed version: $version"
+
+if [ "$(printf '%s\n%s\n' "$latest_version" "$version" | sort -V | tail -1)" = "$version" ] && [ "$latest_version" != "$version" ]; then
+    echo "✓ Version $version is higher than latest version $latest_version"
+    exit 0
+else
+    echo "Error: Version $version is not higher than the latest version $latest_version"
+    exit 1
+fi
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index f1f0b7cf..9e189ccf 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -24,6 +24,11 @@ jobs:
       enable_alpha: ${{ steps.check.outputs.enable_alpha }}
       goreleaser_config: ${{ steps.check.outputs.goreleaser_config }}
     steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
       - name: Check input
         id: check
         run: |
@@ -31,22 +36,16 @@ jobs:
           enable_alpha=""
           goreleaser_config=""
 
-          # validate semver.
-          if [[ $version =~ ^(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)(-((0|[1-9][0-9]*|[0-9]*[a-zA-Z-][0-9a-zA-Z-]*)(\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*|[0-9]*[a-zA-Z-][0-9a-zA-Z-]*))*))?(\+([0-9a-zA-Z-]+(\.[0-9a-zA-Z-]+)*))?$ ]]; then
-            echo "Valid release version: $version"
-
-            if [[ $version =~ ^(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)$ ]]; then
-              # Release is something like x.y.z
-              enable_alpha="false"
-              goreleaser_config=".goreleaser-stable.yml"
-            else
-              # Release is something like x.y.z-something
-              enable_alpha="true"
-              goreleaser_config=".goreleaser-alpha.yml"
-            fi
+          bash ./.github/scripts/validate_version.sh "$version"
+
+          if [[ $version =~ ^(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)\.(0|[1-9][0-9]*)$ ]]; then
+            # Release is something like x.y.z
+            enable_alpha="false"
+            goreleaser_config=".goreleaser-stable.yml"
           else
-            echo "Invalid semver: \"$version\". Must be something like 1.2.3 without leading \"v\""
-            exit 1
+            # Release is something like x.y.z-something
+            enable_alpha="true"
+            goreleaser_config=".goreleaser-alpha.yml"
           fi
 
           echo "enable_alpha=${enable_alpha}" >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"