diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index 87e0223..93ca279 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -1,10 +1,17 @@
-require 'bundler/gem_tasks'
-
 require 'rspec/core/rake_task'
 RSpec::Core::RakeTask.new(:spec) do |t|
   t.pattern = 'spec/cypress_on_rails/*_spec.rb'
 end
 
+# Manually define build task (normally provided by bundler/gem_tasks)
+desc "Build cypress-on-rails-#{CypressOnRails::VERSION}.gem into the pkg directory"
+task :build do
+  require_relative 'lib/cypress_on_rails/version'
+  sh "gem build cypress-on-rails.gemspec"
+  sh "mkdir -p pkg"
+  sh "mv cypress-on-rails-#{CypressOnRails::VERSION}.gem pkg/"
+end
+
 task default: %w[spec build]
 
 namespace :release do
@@ -38,7 +45,7 @@ namespace :release do
 
     # Use gem bump to update version
     puts "\n→ Bumping version with gem-release..."
-    unless system("gem bump --version #{version} --no-commit")
+    unless system("gem bump -v #{version} --no-commit")
       puts "Error: Failed to bump version"
       exit 1
     end
diff --git a/lib/tasks/release.rake b/lib/tasks/release.rake
deleted file mode 100644
index a9e3b09..0000000
--- a/lib/tasks/release.rake
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,59 +0,0 @@
-# frozen_string_literal: true
-
-desc("Releases the gem using the given version.
-
-IMPORTANT: the gem version must be in valid rubygem format (no dashes).
-
-This task depends on the gem-release ruby gem which is installed via `bundle install`
-
-1st argument: The new version in rubygem format (no dashes). Pass no argument to
-              automatically perform a patch version bump.
-2nd argument: Perform a dry run by passing 'true' as a second argument.
-
-Example: `rake release[1.19.0,false]`")
-task :release, %i[gem_version dry_run] do |_t, args|
-  def sh_in_dir(dir, command)
-    puts "Running in #{dir}: #{command}"
-    system("cd #{dir} && #{command}") || raise("Command failed: #{command}")
-  end
-
-  def gem_root
-    File.expand_path('..', __dir__)
-  end
-
-  # Check if there are uncommitted changes
-  unless `git status --porcelain`.strip.empty?
-    raise "You have uncommitted changes. Please commit or stash them before releasing."
-  end
-
-  args_hash = args.to_hash
-  is_dry_run = args_hash[:dry_run] == 'true'
-  gem_version = args_hash.fetch(:gem_version, "")
-
-  # See https://github.com/svenfuchs/gem-release
-  sh_in_dir(gem_root, "git pull --rebase")
-
-  # Bump version, commit, and tag (gem bump does all of this)
-  bump_command = "gem bump"
-  bump_command << " --version #{gem_version}" unless gem_version.strip.empty?
-  bump_command << " --skip-ci" # Skip CI on version bump commit
-  sh_in_dir(gem_root, bump_command)
-
-  # Push the commit and tag
-  sh_in_dir(gem_root, "git push") unless is_dry_run
-  sh_in_dir(gem_root, "git push --tags") unless is_dry_run
-
-  # Release the new gem version to RubyGems
-  puts "\nCarefully add your OTP for Rubygems. If you get an error, run 'gem release' again."
-  sh_in_dir(gem_root, "gem release") unless is_dry_run
-
-  msg = <<~MSG
-    Once you have successfully published, update CHANGELOG.md:
-
-    bundle exec rake update_changelog
-    # Edit CHANGELOG.md to move unreleased changes to the new version section
-    git commit -a -m 'Update CHANGELOG.md'
-    git push
-  MSG
-  puts msg
-end