diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..c2af9cb1f737
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# These env vars are only necessary for creating Electron releases.
+# See docs/development/releasing.md
+
+APPVEYOR_TOKEN=
+CIRCLE_TOKEN=
+ELECTRON_GITHUB_TOKEN=
+VSTS_TOKEN=
diff --git a/script/lib/util.py b/script/lib/util.py
index cdd05686546a..617b576b8840 100644
--- a/script/lib/util.py
+++ b/script/lib/util.py
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ def get_next_beta(v):
     return make_version(pv[0] , pv[1],  pv[2], 'beta.1')
 
   lv = parse_version(tag_list[-1])
-  return make_version(lv[0] , lv[1],  lv[2], str(int(lv[3]) + 1))
+  return make_version(pv[0], pv[1], pv[2], 'beta.' + str(int(lv[3]) + 1))
 
 def get_next_stable_from_pre(v):
   pv = clean_parse_version(v)
diff --git a/script/prepare-release.js b/script/prepare-release.js
index 8d5b5d07b613..dcae3bffce46 100755
--- a/script/prepare-release.js
+++ b/script/prepare-release.js
@@ -33,10 +33,7 @@ github.authenticate({type: 'token', token: process.env.ELECTRON_GITHUB_TOKEN})
 async function getNewVersion (dryRun) {
   console.log(`Bumping for new "${versionType}" version.`)
   let bumpScript = path.join(__dirname, 'bump-version.py')
-  let scriptArgs = [bumpScript]
-  if (args.bump) {
-    scriptArgs.push(`--bump ${versionType}`)
-  }
+  let scriptArgs = [bumpScript, '--bump', versionType]
   if (args.stable) {
     scriptArgs.push('--stable')
   }