diff --git a/.github/workflows/prepare-release.yml b/.github/workflows/prepare-release.yml
index b8ed0b016..e2416fc2b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/prepare-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/prepare-release.yml
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ jobs:
           sed -i "s/implementation 'com.iterable:iterableapi-ui:[^']*'/implementation 'com.iterable:iterableapi-ui:${{ github.event.inputs.version }}'/" sample-apps/inbox-customization/app/build.gradle
 
       - name: Create Pull Request
-        uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v5
+        uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@4e1beaa7521e8b457b572c090b25bd3db56bf1c5 # v5
         with:
           token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           title: "Prepare for Release ${{ steps.update_changelog.outputs.new_version }}"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/validate-release.yml b/.github/workflows/validate-release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9e879777f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/validate-release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+name: Validate Release PR
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    types: [labeled, opened, synchronize, edited]
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+  pull-requests: read
+
+jobs:
+  validate:
+    if: >-
+      (github.event.action == 'labeled' && github.event.label.name == 'release') ||
+      (github.event.action != 'labeled' && contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'release'))
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Validate Release PR
+        env:
+          PR_BODY: ${{ github.event.pull_request.body }}
+        run: |
+          errors=()
+
+          # --- Extract version from source of truth ---
+          version=$(grep -oP "libraryVersion\s*=\s*'\K[^']+" iterableapi/build.gradle)
+          if [ -z "$version" ]; then
+            echo "::error::Could not extract libraryVersion from iterableapi/build.gradle"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "Detected version: $version"
+
+          # --- Check: Docs PR linked ---
+          if ! echo "$PR_BODY" | grep -qiP "github\.com/Iterable/iterable-docs/pull/\d+"; then
+            errors+=("No docs PR link found in the PR description. Add a link to the iterable-docs PR (e.g. https://github.com/Iterable/iterable-docs/pull/123).")
+          fi
+
+          # --- Check: CHANGELOG entry ---
+          if ! grep -qF "## [$version]" CHANGELOG.md; then
+            errors+=("CHANGELOG.md is missing an entry for version [$version].")
+          fi
+
+          # --- Check: Version consistency ---
+          api_lib_ver=$(grep -oP "libraryVersion\s*=\s*'\K[^']+" iterableapi/build.gradle)
+          api_sdk_ver=$(grep -oP 'ITERABLE_SDK_VERSION.*"\K[0-9][^"]+' iterableapi/build.gradle)
+          ui_lib_ver=$(grep -oP "libraryVersion\s*=\s*'\K[^']+" iterableapi-ui/build.gradle)
+
+          if [ "$api_lib_ver" != "$version" ]; then
+            errors+=("iterableapi/build.gradle libraryVersion is '$api_lib_ver', expected '$version'.")
+          fi
+          if [ "$api_sdk_ver" != "$version" ]; then
+            errors+=("iterableapi/build.gradle ITERABLE_SDK_VERSION is '$api_sdk_ver', expected '$version'.")
+          fi
+          if [ "$ui_lib_ver" != "$version" ]; then
+            errors+=("iterableapi-ui/build.gradle libraryVersion is '$ui_lib_ver', expected '$version'.")
+          fi
+
+          # --- Report ---
+          if [ ${#errors[@]} -gt 0 ]; then
+            echo "::error::Release validation failed with ${#errors[@]} issue(s):"
+            for err in "${errors[@]}"; do
+              echo "::error::  - $err"
+            done
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          echo "All release validations passed for version $version."