diff --git a/tools/release/git/github-urls.ts b/tools/release/git/github-urls.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3c02817ea99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/release/git/github-urls.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+/** Gets a Github URL that refers to a lists of recent commits within a specified branch. */
+export function getGithubBranchCommitsUrl(owner: string, repository: string, branchName: string) {
+  return `https://github.com/${owner}/${repository}/commits/${branchName}`;
+}
diff --git a/tools/release/prompt/new-version-prompt.ts b/tools/release/prompt/new-version-prompt.ts
index 22f2f2d6687..8be1183da85 100644
--- a/tools/release/prompt/new-version-prompt.ts
+++ b/tools/release/prompt/new-version-prompt.ts
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ export async function promptForNewVersion(currentVersion: Version): Promise<Vers
     message: 'Should this be a pre-release?',
     // Prompt whether this should a pre-release if the current release is not a pre-release
     when: !currentVersion.prereleaseLabel,
+    default: false,
   }, {
     type: 'list',
     name: 'prereleaseLabel',
diff --git a/tools/release/stage-release.ts b/tools/release/stage-release.ts
index 37e0fb31094..97fb816ce73 100644
--- a/tools/release/stage-release.ts
+++ b/tools/release/stage-release.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import {prompt} from 'inquirer';
 import {join} from 'path';
 import {promptAndGenerateChangelog} from './changelog';
 import {GitClient} from './git/git-client';
+import {getGithubBranchCommitsUrl} from './git/github-urls';
 import {promptForNewVersion} from './prompt/new-version-prompt';
 import {parseVersionName, Version} from './version-name/parse-version';
 import {getExpectedPublishBranch} from './version-name/publish-branch';
@@ -93,7 +94,7 @@ class StageReleaseTask {
     this.switchToPublishBranch(expectedPublishBranch);
 
     this.verifyLocalCommitsMatchUpstream(expectedPublishBranch);
-    await this.verifyPassingGithubStatus();
+    await this.verifyPassingGithubStatus(expectedPublishBranch);
 
     const newVersionName = newVersion.format();
     const stagingBranch = `release-stage/${newVersionName}`;
@@ -195,8 +196,10 @@ class StageReleaseTask {
   }
 
   /** Verifies that the latest commit of the current branch is passing all Github statuses. */
-  private async verifyPassingGithubStatus() {
+  private async verifyPassingGithubStatus(expectedPublishBranch: string) {
     const commitRef = this.git.getLocalCommitSha('HEAD');
+    const githubCommitsUrl = getGithubBranchCommitsUrl(this.repositoryOwner, this.repositoryName,
+      expectedPublishBranch);
     const {state} = (await this.githubApi.repos.getCombinedStatusForRef({
       owner: this.repositoryOwner,
       repo: this.repositoryName,
@@ -206,10 +209,12 @@ class StageReleaseTask {
     if (state === 'failure') {
       console.error(red(`  ✘   Cannot stage release. Commit "${commitRef}" does not pass all ` +
         `github status checks. Please make sure this commit passes all checks before re-running.`));
+      console.error(red(`      Please have a look at: ${githubCommitsUrl}`));
       process.exit(1);
     } else if (state === 'pending') {
       console.error(red(`  ✘   Cannot stage release yet. Commit "${commitRef}" still has ` +
         `pending github statuses that need to succeed before staging a release.`));
+      console.error(red(`      Please have a look at: ${githubCommitsUrl}`));
       process.exit(0);
     }