diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index f214137..3c83e11 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ on:
         description: 'Release version (e.g. 1.0.0)'
         required: true
         type: string
+  repository_dispatch:
+    types: [release]
 
 permissions:
   contents: write
@@ -19,5 +21,6 @@ jobs:
       RELEASE_APP_ID: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_APP_ID }}
       RELEASE_APP_PRIVATE_KEY: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_APP_PRIVATE_KEY }}
     with:
-      version: ${{ inputs.version }}
+      version: ${{ inputs.version || github.event.client_payload.version }}
       upstream-repo: 'kube-vip/kube-vip'
+