diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index c873acc7..1f822207 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@ on:
       - "master"
     paths:
       - 'rockspecs/**'
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      version:
+        description: 'Version to publish, e.g. 4.1.6'
+        required: true
 
 permissions:
   contents: write
@@ -31,28 +36,47 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
         env:
           COMMIT_MESSAGE: ${{ github.event.head_commit.message }}
+          INPUT_VERSION: ${{ inputs.version }}
         run: |
-          title="$COMMIT_MESSAGE"
-          re="^feat: release v*(\S+)"
-          if [[ $title =~ $re ]]; then
-              echo "version=v${BASH_REMATCH[1]}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-              echo "version_without_v=${BASH_REMATCH[1]}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          if [[ -n "$INPUT_VERSION" ]]; then
+              version="${INPUT_VERSION#v}"
           else
-              echo "commit format is not correct"
-              exit 1
+              title="$COMMIT_MESSAGE"
+              re="^feat: release v*(\S+)"
+              if [[ $title =~ $re ]]; then
+                  version="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
+              else
+                  echo "commit format is not correct"
+                  exit 1
+              fi
           fi
+          echo "version=v${version}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "version_without_v=${version}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
       - name: Create Release
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           VERSION: ${{ steps.release_env.outputs.version }}
         run: |
-          gh release create "$VERSION" --title "$VERSION" --generate-notes
+          if gh release view "$VERSION" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+              echo "release $VERSION already exists, skipping"
+          else
+              gh release create "$VERSION" --title "$VERSION" --generate-notes
+          fi
 
       - name: Upload to luarocks
         env:
           LUAROCKS_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.LUAROCKS_TOKEN }}
           VERSION_WITHOUT_V: ${{ steps.release_env.outputs.version_without_v }}
         run: |
+          if [[ -z "$LUAROCKS_TOKEN" ]]; then
+              echo "LUAROCKS_TOKEN is empty: the org secret is not granted to this repository"
+              exit 1
+          fi
+          rockspec="rockspecs/lua-resty-session-api7-${VERSION_WITHOUT_V}-0.rockspec"
+          if [[ ! -f "$rockspec" ]]; then
+              echo "rockspec not found: $rockspec"
+              exit 1
+          fi
           luarocks install dkjson
-          luarocks upload "rockspecs/lua-resty-session-api7-${VERSION_WITHOUT_V}-0.rockspec" --api-key="${LUAROCKS_TOKEN}"
+          luarocks upload "$rockspec" --api-key="${LUAROCKS_TOKEN}"