diff --git a/documentation/misc/RELEASE_ISSUE_TEMPLATE.md b/documentation/misc/RELEASE_ISSUE_TEMPLATE.md
index 42f44b955..167d1096c 100644
--- a/documentation/misc/RELEASE_ISSUE_TEMPLATE.md
+++ b/documentation/misc/RELEASE_ISSUE_TEMPLATE.md
@@ -13,62 +13,19 @@
 
 **Note for whoever is owning the release:** please capture notes as comments in this issue for anything you noticed that could be improved for future releases.  There is a *Post Release* step below for incorporating changes back into the [RELEASE_ISSUE_TEMPLATE](https://github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/blob/master/documentation/misc/RELEASE_ISSUE_TEMPLATE.md), and this is easier done by collecting notes from along the way rather than just thinking about it at the end.
 
-First steps:
-  - [ ] Set shell variables vX.Y.Z `export X=1 && export Y=24 && export Z=3`
-  - [ ] FFI: Fork a new branch (`release/lotus-vX.Y.Z`) from the filecoin-ffi `master` branch: `git checkout master && git checkout -b release/lotus-v$X.$Y.$Z`
-  - [ ] FFI: Tag the head of `release/lotus-vX.Y.Z` as `vX.Y.Z-pre1`: `git tag -a v$X.$Y.$Z-pre1 -m"release"`
-  - [ ] Open and land a PR in lotus `master` that updates the FFI dependency to `vX.Y.Z-pre1` as cut in the previous step
-  - [ ] Fork a new branch (`release/vX.Y.Z`) from `master` and make any further release related changes to this branch. If any "non-trivial" changes get added to the release, uncheck all the checkboxes and return to this stage.
-  - [ ] Bump the version in `build/version.go` in the `master` branch to `vX.Y.(Z+1)-dev` (bump from feature release) or `vX.(Y+1).0-dev` (bump from mandatory release).
-  - [ ] Run `make gen && make docsgen-cli` before committing changes
-    
+- [ ] Fork a new branch (`release/vX.Y.Z`) from `master` and make any further release related changes to this branch. If any "non-trivial" changes get added to the release, uncheck all the checkboxes and return to this stage.
+- [ ] Bump the version in `build/version.go` in the `master` branch to `vX.Y.(Z+1)-dev` (bump from feature release) or `vX.(Y+1).0-dev` (bump from mandatory release). Run make gen and make docsgen-cli before committing changes
+
 **Prepping an RC**:
 
-- [ ] version string in `build/version.go` has been updated (in the `release/vX.Y.Z` branch)
+- [ ] version string in `build/version.go` needs to be updated to end with '-rcX' (in the `release/vX.Y.Z` branch)
 - [ ] run `make gen && make docsgen-cli`
 - [ ] Generate changelog using the script at scripts/mkreleaselog
 - [ ] Add contents of generated text to lotus/CHANGELOG.md in addition to other details
-- [ ] Commit using PR
+- [ ] Commit using PR 
 - [ ] tag commit with `vX.Y.Z-rcN`
 - [ ] cut a pre-release [here](https://github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/releases/new?prerelease=true)
 
-**Testing an RC**:
-
-- [ ] **Stage 0 - Automated Testing**
-  - Automated Testing
-    - [ ] CI: Ensure that all tests are passing.
-    - [ ] Testground tests
-
-- [ ] **Stage 1 - Internal Testing**
-  - Binaries
-    - [ ] Ensure the RC release has downloadable binaries
-  - Upgrade our testnet infra
-    - [ ] Wait 24 hours, confirm nodes stay in sync
-  -  Upgrade our mainnet infra
-    - [ ] Subset of development full archival nodes
-    - [ ] Subset of bootstrappers (1 per region)
-    - [ ] Confirm nodes stay in sync
-    - Metrics report
-        - Block validation time
-        - Memory / CPU usage
-        - Number of goroutines
-        - IPLD block read latency
-        - Bandwidth usage
-    - [ ] If anything has worsened significantly, investigate + fix
-  - Confirm the following work (some combination of Testground / Calibnet / Mainnet / beta users)
-    - [ ] Seal a sector
-    - [ ] make a deal
-    - [ ] Submit a PoSt
-    - [ ] (optional) let a sector go faulty, and see it be recovered
-    
-- [ ] **Stage 2 - Community Testing**
-  - [ ] Test with [SPX](https://github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/discussions/7461) fellows
-  - [ ] Work on documentations for new features, configuration changes and so on.
-
-- [ ] **Stage 3 - Community Prod Testing**
-  - [ ] Update the [CHANGELOG.md](https://github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md) to the state that can be used as release note.
-  - [ ] Invite the wider community through (link to the release issue)
-    
 **Stable Release**
   - [ ] Final preparation
     - [ ] Verify that version string in [`version.go`](https://github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/blob/master/build/version.go) has been updated.
@@ -78,7 +35,6 @@ First steps:
     - [ ] Tag this merge commit (on the `releases` branch) with `vX.Y.Z`
     - [ ] Cut the release [here](https://github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/releases/new?prerelease=false&target=releases).
 
-
 **Post-Release**
   - [ ] Merge the `releases` branch back into `master`, ignoring the changes to `version.go` (keep the `-dev` version from master). Do NOT delete the `releases` branch when doing so!
   - [ ] Update [RELEASE_ISSUE_TEMPLATE.md](https://github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/blob/master/documentation/misc/RELEASE_ISSUE_TEMPLATE.md) with any improvements determined from this latest release iteration.