diff --git a/.buildkite/ci.mjs b/.buildkite/ci.mjs
index 924cd3e57b..e618ac349f 100755
--- a/.buildkite/ci.mjs
+++ b/.buildkite/ci.mjs
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import {
   getChangedFiles,
   getCommit,
   getCommitMessage,
+  getEnv,
   getLastSuccessfulBuild,
   getMainBranch,
   getTargetBranch,
@@ -784,7 +785,10 @@ async function main() {
 
   console.log("Checking if build is a named release...");
   let buildRelease;
-  {
+  if (/^(1|true|on|yes)$/i.test(getEnv("RELEASE"))) {
+    console.log(" - Yes, because RELEASE environment variable is set");
+    buildRelease = true;
+  } else {
     const message = getCommitMessage();
     const match = /\[(release|release build|build release)\]/i.exec(message);
     if (match) {
diff --git a/LATEST b/LATEST
index 9b51125a6c..474ad5be60 100644
--- a/LATEST
+++ b/LATEST
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.1.34
\ No newline at end of file
+1.1.36
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index c8f3afe154..4370e9dbbb 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "private": true,
   "name": "bun",
-  "version": "1.1.35",
+  "version": "1.1.36",
   "workspaces": [
     "./packages/bun-types"
   ],