diff --git a/src/commands/githubActions/bumpUpstream/github/fetchGithubUpstreamVersion.ts b/src/commands/githubActions/bumpUpstream/github/fetchGithubUpstreamVersion.ts
index 12217196..dee7324c 100644
--- a/src/commands/githubActions/bumpUpstream/github/fetchGithubUpstreamVersion.ts
+++ b/src/commands/githubActions/bumpUpstream/github/fetchGithubUpstreamVersion.ts
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 import { Github } from "../../../../providers/github/Github.js";
-import { isValidRelease } from "./isValidRelease.js";
+import { pickLatestRelease } from "./pickLatestRelease.js";
 
 export async function fetchGithubUpstreamVersion(
   repo: string
 ): Promise<string | null> {
   try {
     const newVersion = await fetchGithubLatestTag(repo);
-    if (!isValidRelease(newVersion)) {
+    if (!newVersion) {
       console.log(
-        `This is not a valid release (probably a release candidate) - ${repo}: ${newVersion}`
+        `No stable release found (only drafts, pre-releases or release candidates) - ${repo}`
       );
       return null;
     }
@@ -21,13 +21,12 @@ export async function fetchGithubUpstreamVersion(
   }
 }
 
-async function fetchGithubLatestTag(repo: string): Promise<string> {
+async function fetchGithubLatestTag(repo: string): Promise<string | null> {
   const [owner, repoName] = repo.split("/");
   const githubRepo = new Github({ owner, repo: repoName });
 
   const releases = await githubRepo.listReleases();
-  const latestRelease = releases[0];
-  if (!latestRelease) throw Error(`No release found for ${repo}`);
+  if (releases.length === 0) throw Error(`No release found for ${repo}`);
 
-  return latestRelease.tag_name;
+  return pickLatestRelease(releases);
 }
diff --git a/src/commands/githubActions/bumpUpstream/github/index.ts b/src/commands/githubActions/bumpUpstream/github/index.ts
index 58c03364..1cc496fb 100644
--- a/src/commands/githubActions/bumpUpstream/github/index.ts
+++ b/src/commands/githubActions/bumpUpstream/github/index.ts
@@ -3,3 +3,4 @@ export * from "./getBumpPrBody.js";
 export * from "./getGithubSettings.js";
 export * from "./isBranchNew.js";
 export * from "./isValidRelease.js";
+export * from "./pickLatestRelease.js";
diff --git a/src/commands/githubActions/bumpUpstream/github/pickLatestRelease.ts b/src/commands/githubActions/bumpUpstream/github/pickLatestRelease.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..42ab0053
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/commands/githubActions/bumpUpstream/github/pickLatestRelease.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import { isValidRelease } from "./isValidRelease.js";
+
+interface Release {
+  tag_name: string;
+  draft: boolean;
+  prerelease: boolean;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Returns the tag of the newest release that is not a draft, not flagged as a
+ * pre-release and passes isValidRelease, or null when there is none.
+ * `releases` comes newest first, as GitHub lists them. A release candidate
+ * published after a stable release must not hide that stable release.
+ */
+export function pickLatestRelease(releases: Release[]): string | null {
+  for (const { tag_name, draft, prerelease } of releases) {
+    if (draft || prerelease || !isValidRelease(tag_name)) continue;
+    return tag_name;
+  }
+  return null;
+}
diff --git a/test/commands/gaBumpUpstream/pickLatestRelease.test.ts b/test/commands/gaBumpUpstream/pickLatestRelease.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..47e2998e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/commands/gaBumpUpstream/pickLatestRelease.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+import { expect } from "chai";
+import { pickLatestRelease } from "../../../src/commands/githubActions/bumpUpstream/github/index.js";
+
+const release = (
+  tag_name: string,
+  { draft = false, prerelease = false } = {}
+) => ({ tag_name, draft, prerelease });
+
+describe("command / gaBumpUpstream / pickLatestRelease", () => {
+  it("returns the newest release when it is stable", () => {
+    expect(pickLatestRelease([release("v1.2.0"), release("v1.1.0")])).to.equal(
+      "v1.2.0"
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("skips a newer release flagged as pre-release", () => {
+    expect(
+      pickLatestRelease([
+        release("0.3.5-rc.1", { prerelease: true }),
+        release("0.3.4")
+      ])
+    ).to.equal("0.3.4");
+  });
+
+  it("skips a newer release candidate tag that is not flagged", () => {
+    expect(
+      pickLatestRelease([release("v1.2.0-rc.1"), release("v1.1.0")])
+    ).to.equal("v1.1.0");
+  });
+
+  it("skips drafts and nightly builds", () => {
+    expect(
+      pickLatestRelease([
+        release("v2.0.0", { draft: true }),
+        release("nightly-2026-11-10"),
+        release("v1.9.0")
+      ])
+    ).to.equal("v1.9.0");
+  });
+
+  it("returns null when no release is stable", () => {
+    expect(
+      pickLatestRelease([
+        release("v2.0.0-rc.2", { prerelease: true }),
+        release("v2.0.0-rc.1")
+      ])
+    ).to.equal(null);
+  });
+});