diff --git a/project/RELEASE-PROCESS.md b/project/RELEASE-PROCESS.md
index 85bbaf295..ffa18077f 100644
--- a/project/RELEASE-PROCESS.md
+++ b/project/RELEASE-PROCESS.md
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ When prompted build the non-linux binaries and test them.
 
 2.  Download the windows binary from AppVeyor
 
-    https://ci.appveyor.com/project/docker/compose/build/<build id>/artifacts
+    https://ci.appveyor.com/project/docker/compose
 
 3.  Draft a release from the tag on GitHub (the script will open the window for
     you)
@@ -82,17 +82,20 @@ When prompted build the non-linux binaries and test them.
 
 5.  Attach the binaries and `script/run.sh`
 
-6. If everything looks good, it's time to push the release.
+6.  Add "Thanks" with a list of contributors. The contributor list can be generated
+    by running `./script/release/contributors`.
+
+7.  If everything looks good, it's time to push the release.
 
 
         ./script/release/push-release
 
 
-7.  Publish the release on GitHub.
+8.  Publish the release on GitHub.
 
-8.  Check that both binaries download (following the install instructions) and run.
+9.  Check that all the binaries download (following the install instructions) and run.
 
-9.  Email maintainers@dockerproject.org and engineering@docker.com about the new release.
+10. Email maintainers@dockerproject.org and engineering@docker.com about the new release.
 
 ## If it’s a stable release (not an RC)
 
diff --git a/script/release/contributors b/script/release/contributors
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..bb9fe871c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/script/release/contributors
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -e
+
+
+function usage() {
+    >&2 cat << EOM
+Print the list of github contributors for the release
+
+Usage:
+
+    $0 <previous release tag>
+EOM
+    exit 1
+}
+
+[[ -n "$1" ]] || usage
+PREV_RELEASE=$1
+VERSION=HEAD
+URL="https://api.github.com/repos/docker/compose/compare"
+
+curl -sf "$URL/$PREV_RELEASE...$VERSION" | \
+    jq -r '.commits[].author.login' | \
+    sort | \
+    uniq -c | \
+    sort -nr | \
+    awk '{print "@"$2","}' | \
+    xargs echo
diff --git a/script/release/make-branch b/script/release/make-branch
index dde1fb65d..e2eae4d5f 100755
--- a/script/release/make-branch
+++ b/script/release/make-branch
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ fi
 
 DEFAULT_REMOTE=release
 REMOTE="$(find_remote "$GITHUB_REPO")"
-# If we don't have a docker origin add one
+# If we don't have a docker remote add one
 if [ -z "$REMOTE" ]; then
     echo "Creating $DEFAULT_REMOTE remote"
     git remote add ${DEFAULT_REMOTE} ${GITHUB_REPO}
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ read -n1 -r -p "Continue? (ctrl+c to cancel)"
 git fetch $REMOTE -p
 git checkout -b $BRANCH $BASE_VERSION
 
+echo "Merging remote release branch into new release branch"
+git merge --strategy=ours --no-edit $REMOTE/release
 
 # Store the release version for this branch in git, so that other release
 # scripts can use it