diff --git a/scripts/set-release-date b/scripts/set-release-date
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..7f6ed6cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/set-release-date
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+set -e
+
+export LANG=C
+
+DATE=${1:-now}
+
+# update the files
+sed -e '1s/([^)]*)/('"$(date -d "$DATE" +'%B %d, %Y')"')/' -i NEWS
+sed -e '1s/^\(.TH "[^"]*" "[^"]*" "\)[^"]*\("\)/\1'"$(date -d "$DATE" +'%B %d, %Y')"'\2/' -i doc/geany.1.in
+sed -e 's/^\(:Date: \).*$/\1'"$(date -d "$DATE" +'%Y-%m-%d')"'/' -i doc/geany.txt
+
+# show commit message to use
+cat <<EOF
+Message for the commit, after you have checked the changes:
+-----------------------------------------------------------
+
+Set release date
+EOF