diff --git a/mk/release.mk b/mk/release.mk
index b2312e1cf9..7d7259cbaf 100644
--- a/mk/release.mk
+++ b/mk/release.mk
@@ -1,93 +1,87 @@
 #
 # Copyright 2008-2022 the Pacemaker project contributors
 #
 # The version control history for this file may have further details.
 #
 # This source code is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2
 # or later (GPLv2+) WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY.
 #
 
 # Define variables related to release version and such
 
 COMMIT	?= HEAD
 
 # TAG defaults to DIST when in a source distribution instead of a git checkout,
 # the tag name if COMMIT is tagged, and the full commit ID otherwise.
 TAG	?= $(shell								\
 	     T=$$(git describe --tags --exact-match '$(COMMIT)' 2>/dev/null);	\
 	     [ -n "$${T}" ] && echo "$${T}" 					\
 	     || git log --pretty=format:%H -n 1 '$(COMMIT)' 2>/dev/null		\
 	     || echo DIST)
 
 # If DIRTY=anything is passed to make, generated versions will end in ".mod"
 # as long as there are uncommitted changes and COMMIT is not changed from the
 # default.
 DIRTY_EXT	= $(shell [ -n "$(DIRTY)" ]				\
 			&& [ "$(COMMIT)" == "HEAD" ] 			\
 			&& ! git diff-index --quiet HEAD -- 2>/dev/null	\
 			&& echo .mod)
 
 # These can be used in case statements to avoid make interpreting parentheses
 lparen = (
 rparen = )
 
-# git tag of highest-versioned release candidate (such as "Pacemaker-2.1.5-rc2")
-# or empty if not in git checkout
-LAST_RC		?= $(shell git tag -l 2>/dev/null				\
-		     | sed -n -e 's/^\(Pacemaker-[0-9.]*-rc[0-9]*\)$$/\1/p'	\
-		     | sort -Vr | head -n 1)
-
 # This will be empty if not in a git checkout
 CHECKOUT	= $(shell git rev-parse --git-dir 2>/dev/null)
 
 # VERSION is set by configure, but we allow some make targets to be run without
 # running configure first, so set a reasonable default in that case.
 VERSION		?= $(shell if [ -z "$(CHECKOUT)" ]; then			\
 			echo 0.0.0;						\
 		     else							\
 			git tag -l						\
 				| sed -n -e 's/^\(Pacemaker-[0-9.]*\)$$/\1/p'	\
 				| sort -Vr | head -n 1;				\
 		     fi)
 
 # What the git tag would be for configured VERSION (such as "Pacemaker-2.1.5")
 LAST_RELEASE	?= Pacemaker-$(VERSION)
 
 # What the git tag would be for the release after the configured VERSION
 # (LAST_RELEASE stripped of its -rc* suffix if present, or with minor-minor
 # version bumped if not; this should be manually overriden when bumping
 # the major or minor version)
 NEXT_RELEASE	?= $(shell case "$(LAST_RELEASE)" in				\
 			*-rc*$(rparen)						\
 				echo $(LAST_RELEASE) | sed s:-rc.*:: ;;		\
 			*$(rparen)						\
 				echo $(LAST_RELEASE) | awk -F.			\
 				'/[0-9]+\./{$$3+=1;OFS=".";print $$1,$$2,$$3}'	\
 				;;						\
 		     esac)
 
 # We have two make targets for creating distributions:
 #
 # - "make dist" is automake's native functionality, based on the various
 #   dist/nodist make variables; it always uses the current sources
 #
 # - "make export" is a custom target based on "git archive" and relevant
 #   entries from .gitattributes; it defaults to current sources but can use any
 #   git tag
 #
 # Both targets use the same name for the result, though they generate different
 # contents.
 #
 # The directory is named pacemaker-<version> when in a source distribution
 # instead of a git checkout, pacemaker-<version_part_of_tag> for tagged
 # commits, and pacemaker-<short_commit> otherwise.
 top_distdir	= $(PACKAGE)-$(shell						\
 		  case $(TAG) in						\
 			DIST$(rparen)						\
 				[ -n "$(VERSION)" ] && echo "$(VERSION)"	\
 					|| echo DIST;;				\
 			Pacemaker-*$(rparen)					\
 				echo '$(TAG)' | cut -c11-;;			\
 			*$(rparen)						\
 				git log --pretty=format:%h -n 1 '$(TAG)';;	\
 		  esac)$(DIRTY_EXT)
diff --git a/rpm/Makefile.am b/rpm/Makefile.am
index 9622e82cdd..c7975e4c81 100644
--- a/rpm/Makefile.am
+++ b/rpm/Makefile.am
@@ -1,281 +1,282 @@
 #
 # Copyright 2003-2022 the Pacemaker project contributors
 #
 # The version control history for this file may have further details.
 #
 # This source code is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2
 # or later (GPLv2+) WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY.
 #
 
 # We want to support the use case where this file is fed straight to make
 # without running automake first, so define defaults for any automake variables
 # used in this file.
 top_srcdir              ?= ..
 abs_srcdir              ?= $(shell pwd)
 abs_builddir            ?= $(abs_srcdir)
 MAKE                    ?= make
 PACKAGE                 ?= pacemaker
 AM_V_at                 ?= @
 MKDIR_P                 ?= mkdir -p
 
 include $(top_srcdir)/mk/common.mk
 include $(top_srcdir)/mk/release.mk
 
 EXTRA_DIST		= pacemaker.spec.in		\
 			  rpmlintrc
 
 # Where to put RPM artifacts; possible values:
 #
 # - subtree (default): RPM sources (i.e. TARFILE) in top-level build directory,
 #   everything else in dedicated "rpm" subdirectory of build tree
 #
 # - toplevel (deprecated): RPM sources, spec, and source rpm in top-level build
 #   directory, everything else uses the usual rpmbuild defaults
 #
 # - anything else: The value will be treated as a directory path to be used for
 #   all RPM artifacts. WARNING: The entire directory will get removed with
 #   "make clean" or "make rpm-clean".
 #
 RPMDEST         	?= subtree
 
 RPM_SPEC_DIR_subtree	= $(abs_builddir)/SPECS
 RPM_SRCRPM_DIR_subtree	= $(abs_builddir)/SRPMS
 RPM_OPTS_subtree	= --define "_sourcedir $(abs_builddir)/.." 	\
 			  --define "_topdir $(abs_builddir)"
 RPM_CLEAN_subtree	= "$(abs_builddir)/BUILD"			\
 			  "$(abs_builddir)/BUILDROOT"			\
 			  "$(abs_builddir)/RPMS"			\
 			  "$(abs_builddir)/SPECS"			\
 			  "$(abs_builddir)/SRPMS"
 
 RPM_SPEC_DIR_toplevel	= $(abs_builddir)/..
 RPM_SRCRPM_DIR_toplevel	= $(abs_builddir)/..
 RPM_OPTS_toplevel	= --define "_sourcedir $(abs_builddir)/.." 		\
 			  --define "_specdir   $(RPM_SPEC_DIR_toplevel)"	\
 			  --define "_srcrpmdir $(RPM_SRCRPM_DIR_toplevel)"
 RPM_CLEAN_toplevel	=
 
 RPM_SPEC_DIR_other	= $(RPMDEST)/SPECS
 RPM_SRCRPM_DIR_other	= $(RPMDEST)/SRPMS
 RPM_OPTS_other		= --define "_sourcedir $(abs_builddir)/.." 	\
 			  --define "_topdir $(RPMDEST)"
 RPM_CLEAN_other		= "$(RPMDEST)"
 
 RPMTYPE		= $(shell case "$(RPMDEST)" in 			\
 			toplevel$(rparen) echo toplevel ;;	\
 			subtree$(rparen) echo subtree ;;	\
 			*$(rparen) echo other ;;		\
 			esac)
 RPM_SPEC_DIR	= $(RPM_SPEC_DIR_$(RPMTYPE))
 RPM_SRCRPM_DIR	= $(RPM_SRCRPM_DIR_$(RPMTYPE))
 RPM_OPTS	= $(RPM_OPTS_$(RPMTYPE))
 RPM_CLEAN	= $(RPM_CLEAN_$(RPMTYPE))
 
 WITH		?= --without doc
 
 # If $(BUILD_COUNTER) is an existing file, its contents will be used as the
 # spec version in built RPMs, unless $(SPECVERSION) is set to override it,
 # and the next increment will be written back to the file after building.
 BUILD_COUNTER	?= $(shell test -e build.counter && echo build.counter || echo ../build.counter)
 
 LAST_COUNT      = $(shell test -e "$(BUILD_COUNTER)" && cat "$(BUILD_COUNTER)" || echo 0)
 COUNT           = $(shell expr 1 + $(LAST_COUNT))
 SPECVERSION	?= $(COUNT)
 
 # SPEC_COMMIT is identical to TAG for DIST and tagged releases, otherwise it is
 # the short commit ID (which must be used in order for "make export" to use the
 # same archive name as "make dist")
 SPEC_COMMIT	?= $(shell						\
 		case $(TAG) in						\
 		    Pacemaker-*|DIST$(rparen)				\
 		        echo '$(TAG)' ;;				\
 		    *$(rparen)						\
 		        git log --pretty=format:%h -n 1 '$(TAG)';;	\
 		esac)$(DIRTY_EXT)
 SPEC_ABBREV	= $(shell printf %s '$(SPEC_COMMIT)' | wc -c)
 SPEC_RELEASE	= $(shell case "$(WITH)" in 				\
 		  *pre_release*$(rparen)				\
 			[ "$(LAST_RELEASE)" = "$(TAG)" ]		\
 				&& echo "$(LAST_RELEASE)"		\
 				|| echo "$(NEXT_RELEASE)" ;;		\
 		  *$(rparen)						\
 			echo "$(LAST_RELEASE)" ;;			\
 		  esac)
 SPEC_RELEASE_NO	= $(shell echo $(SPEC_RELEASE) | sed -e s:Pacemaker-:: -e s:-.*::)
 
 MOCK_DIR	= $(abs_builddir)/mock
 MOCK_OPTIONS	?= --resultdir="$(MOCK_DIR)" --no-cleanup-after
 
 F	?= $(shell test ! -e /etc/fedora-release && echo 0; test -e /etc/fedora-release && rpm --eval %{fedora})
 ARCH	?= $(shell test ! -e /etc/fedora-release && uname -m; test -e /etc/fedora-release && rpm --eval %{_arch})
 MOCK_CFG	?= $(shell test -e /etc/fedora-release && echo fedora-$(F)-$(ARCH))
 
 distdir		= $(top_distdir)/rpm
 TARFILE		= $(abs_builddir)/../$(top_distdir).tar.gz
 
 # Create a source distribution based on a git archive. (If we aren't in a git
 # checkout, do a make dist instead.)
 export:
 	cd $(abs_srcdir)/..;							\
 	if [ -z "$(CHECKOUT)" ] && [ -f "$(TARFILE)" ]; then			\
 	    echo "`date`: Using existing tarball: $(TARFILE)";			\
 	elif [ -z "$(CHECKOUT)" ]; then						\
 	    $(MAKE) $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) dist;					\
 	    echo "`date`: Rebuilt tarball: $(TARFILE)";				\
 	elif [ -n "$(DIRTY_EXT)" ]; then					\
 	    git commit -m "DO-NOT-PUSH" -a;					\
 	    git archive --prefix=$(top_distdir)/ -o "$(TARFILE)" HEAD^{tree};	\
 	    git reset --mixed HEAD^;						\
 	    echo "`date`: Rebuilt $(TARFILE)";					\
 	elif [ -f "$(TARFILE)" ]; then						\
 	    echo "`date`: Using existing tarball: $(TARFILE)";			\
 	else									\
 	    git archive --prefix=$(top_distdir)/ -o "$(TARFILE)" $(TAG)^{tree};	\
 	    echo "`date`: Rebuilt $(TARFILE)";					\
 	fi
 
 # Depend on spec-clean so the spec gets rebuilt every time
 $(RPM_SPEC_DIR)/$(PACKAGE).spec: spec-clean pacemaker.spec.in
 	$(AM_V_at)$(MKDIR_P) "$(RPM_SPEC_DIR)"
 	$(AM_V_GEN)if [ x"`git ls-files -m pacemaker.spec.in 2>/dev/null`" != x ]; then	\
 	    cat "$(abs_srcdir)/pacemaker.spec.in";					\
 	elif git cat-file -e $(TAG):rpm/pacemaker.spec.in 2>/dev/null; then		\
 	    git show $(TAG):rpm/pacemaker.spec.in;					\
 	elif git cat-file -e $(TAG):pacemaker.spec.in 2>/dev/null; then			\
 	    git show $(TAG):pacemaker.spec.in;						\
 	else 										\
 	    cat "$(abs_srcdir)/pacemaker.spec.in";					\
 	fi | sed									\
 	    -e 's/^\(%global pcmkversion \).*/\1$(SPEC_RELEASE_NO)/'			\
 	    -e 's/^\(%global specversion \).*/\1$(SPECVERSION)/' 			\
 	    -e 's/^\(%global commit \).*/\1$(SPEC_COMMIT)/'				\
 	    -e 's/^\(%global commit_abbrev \).*/\1$(SPEC_ABBREV)/'			\
 	    -e "s/PACKAGE_DATE/$$(date +'%a %b %d %Y')/"				\
 	    -e 's/PACKAGE_VERSION/$(SPEC_RELEASE_NO)-$(SPECVERSION)/'			\
 	    > "$@"
 
 .PHONY: spec $(PACKAGE).spec
 spec $(PACKAGE).spec: $(RPM_SPEC_DIR)/$(PACKAGE).spec
 
 spec-clean:
 	-rm -f "$(RPM_SPEC_DIR)/$(PACKAGE).spec"
 
 .PHONY: srpm
 srpm:	export srpm-clean $(RPM_SPEC_DIR)/$(PACKAGE).spec
 	if [ -e "$(BUILD_COUNTER)" ]; then		\
 		echo $(COUNT) > "$(BUILD_COUNTER)";	\
 	fi
 	rpmbuild -bs $(RPM_OPTS) $(WITH) "$(RPM_SPEC_DIR)/$(PACKAGE).spec"
 
 .PHONY: srpm-clean
 srpm-clean:
 	-rm -f "$(RPM_SRCRPM_DIR)"/*.src.rpm
 
 # e.g. make WITH="--with pre_release" rpm
 .PHONY: rpm
 rpm:	srpm
 	@echo To create custom builds, edit the flags and options in $(PACKAGE).spec first
 	rpmbuild $(RPM_OPTS) $(WITH) --rebuild "$(RPM_SRCRPM_DIR)"/*.src.rpm
 
 .PHONY: rpm-clean
 rpm-clean: spec-clean srpm-clean
 	-if [ -n "$(RPM_CLEAN)" ]; then rm -rf $(RPM_CLEAN); fi
 
 .PHONY: rpmlint
 rpmlint: $(RPM_SPEC_DIR)/$(PACKAGE).spec
 	rpmlint -f rpmlintrc "$<"
 
 .PHONY: rpm-dep
 rpm-dep: $(RPM_SPEC_DIR)/$(PACKAGE).spec
 	sudo yum-builddep "$(RPM_SPEC_DIR)/$(PACKAGE).spec"
 
 .PHONY: release
 release:
 	$(MAKE) $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) TAG=$(LAST_RELEASE) rpm
 
+# Build the highest-versioned rc tag
 .PHONY: rc
 rc:
-	if [ -n "$(LAST_RC)" ]; then				\
-		@echo 'rc can only be used in git checkout';	\
-		false;						\
-	else							\
-		$(MAKE) $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) TAG=$(LAST_RC) rpm;	\
+	@if [ -z "$(CHECKOUT)" ]; then					\
+		echo 'This target must be run from a git checkout';	\
+		exit 1;							\
 	fi
+	$(MAKE) $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) TAG="$$(git tag -l 2>/dev/null		\
+		| sed -n -e 's/^\(Pacemaker-[0-9.]*-rc[0-9]*\)$$/\1/p'	\
+		| sort -Vr | head -n 1)" rpm
 
 .PHONY: chroot
 chroot: mock-$(MOCK_CFG) mock-install-$(MOCK_CFG) mock-sh-$(MOCK_CFG)
 	@echo Done
 
 .PHONY: mock-next
 mock-next:
 	$(MAKE) $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) F=$(shell expr 1 + $(F)) mock
 
 .PHONY: mock-rawhide
 mock-rawhide:
 	$(MAKE) $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) F=rawhide mock
 
 mock-install-%:
 	@echo "Installing packages"
 	mock --root=$* $(MOCK_OPTIONS) --install "$(MOCK_DIR)"/*.rpm \
 		vi sudo valgrind lcov gdb fence-agents psmisc
 
 .PHONY: mock-install
 mock-install: mock-install-$(MOCK_CFG)
 	@echo Done
 
 .PHONY: mock-sh
 mock-sh: mock-sh-$(MOCK_CFG)
 	@echo Done
 
 mock-sh-%:
 	@echo Connecting
 	mock --root=$* $(MOCK_OPTIONS) --shell
 	@echo Done
 
 mock-%: srpm mock-clean
 	mock $(MOCK_OPTIONS) --root=$* --no-cleanup-after --rebuild	\
 		$(WITH) "$(RPM_SRCRPM_DIR)"/*.src.rpm
 
 .PHONY: mock
 mock:   mock-$(MOCK_CFG)
 	@echo Done
 
 .PHONY: dirty
 dirty:
 	$(MAKE) $(AM_MAKEFLAGS) DIRTY=yes mock
 
 .PHONY: mock-clean
 mock-clean:
 	-rm -rf "$(MOCK_DIR)"
 
 # Make debugging makefile issues easier
 vars:
 	@echo "CHECKOUT=$(CHECKOUT)"
 	@echo "VERSION=$(VERSION)"
 	@echo "COMMIT=$(COMMIT)"
 	@echo "TAG=$(TAG)"
 	@echo "DIRTY=$(DIRTY)"
 	@echo "DIRTY_EXT=$(DIRTY_EXT)"
-	@echo "LAST_RC=$(LAST_RC)"
 	@echo "LAST_RELEASE=$(LAST_RELEASE)"
 	@echo "NEXT_RELEASE=$(NEXT_RELEASE)"
 	@echo "top_distdir=$(top_distdir)"
 	@echo "RPMDEST=$(RPMDEST)"
 	@echo "RPMTYPE=$(RPMTYPE)"
 	@echo "RPM_SPEC_DIR=$(RPM_SPEC_DIR)"
 	@echo "RPM_SRCRPM_DIR=$(RPM_SRCRPM_DIR)"
 	@echo "RPM_OPTS=$(RPM_OPTS)"
 	@echo "RPM_CLEAN=$(RPM_CLEAN)"
 	@echo "WITH=$(WITH)"
 	@echo "BUILD_COUNTER=$(BUILD_COUNTER)"
 	@echo "LAST_COUNT=$(LAST_COUNT)"
 	@echo "COUNT=$(COUNT)"
 	@echo "SPECVERSION=$(SPECVERSION)"
 	@echo "SPEC_COMMIT=$(SPEC_COMMIT)"
 	@echo "SPEC_ABBREV=$(SPEC_ABBREV)"
 	@echo "SPEC_RELEASE=$(SPEC_RELEASE)"
 	@echo "SPEC_RELEASE_NO=$(SPEC_RELEASE_NO)"
 	@echo "TARFILE=$(TARFILE)"
 
 clean-local: mock-clean rpm-clean
 	-rm -f "$(TARFILE)"