diff --git a/cloud/services/container/clusters/reconcile.go b/cloud/services/container/clusters/reconcile.go
index 54ece2c15..50ecd0cc4 100644
--- a/cloud/services/container/clusters/reconcile.go
+++ b/cloud/services/container/clusters/reconcile.go
@@ -330,14 +330,31 @@ func (s *Service) checkDiffAndPrepareUpdate(ctx context.Context, existingCluster
 	clusterUpdate := containerpb.ClusterUpdate{}
 	// Release channel
 	desiredReleaseChannel := convertToSdkReleaseChannel(s.scope.GCPManagedControlPlane.Spec.ReleaseChannel)
-	if existingCluster.ReleaseChannel != nil && desiredReleaseChannel != existingCluster.ReleaseChannel.Channel {
-		needUpdate = true
-		log.V(0).Info("release channel changed",
-			"current", existingCluster.ReleaseChannel.Channel,
-			"desired", desiredReleaseChannel)
+	// probably just run converttosdkreleasechannel on existingcluster.releasechannel as well
+	if existingCluster.ReleaseChannel != nil {
+		if desiredReleaseChannel != existingCluster.ReleaseChannel.Channel {
+			needUpdate = true
+			log.V(0).Info("release channel changed",
+				"current", existingCluster.ReleaseChannel.Channel,
+				"desired", desiredReleaseChannel)
+		}
+	} else {
+		if desiredReleaseChannel != containerpb.ReleaseChannel_UNSPECIFIED {
+			needUpdate = true
+			log.V(0).Info("release channel changed",
+				"current", nil,
+				"desired", desiredReleaseChannel)
+		}
+	}
+	if needUpdate == true {
 		clusterUpdate.DesiredReleaseChannel = &containerpb.ReleaseChannel{
 			Channel: desiredReleaseChannel,
 		}
+		updateClusterRequest := containerpb.UpdateClusterRequest{
+			Name:   s.scope.ClusterFullName(),
+			Update: &clusterUpdate,
+		}
+		return needUpdate, &updateClusterRequest
 	}
 	// Master version
 	if s.scope.GCPManagedControlPlane.Spec.ControlPlaneVersion != nil {
@@ -350,8 +367,10 @@ func (s *Service) checkDiffAndPrepareUpdate(ctx context.Context, existingCluster
 		}
 
 		controlPlaneVersion := semver.MustParse(*s.scope.GCPManagedControlPlane.Spec.ControlPlaneVersion)
-
-		if len(controlPlaneVersion.Pre) > 0 && existingVersion.EQ(controlPlaneVersion) {
+		if len(controlPlaneVersion.Pre) > 0 && existingVersion.LT(controlPlaneVersion) {
+			log.V(0).Info("pre-release version detected",
+				"current", existingVersion,
+				"desired", controlPlaneVersion)
 			needUpdate = true
 		} else {
 			if controlPlaneVersion.FinalizeVersion() != existingVersion.FinalizeVersion() {
diff --git a/cloud/services/container/nodepools/reconcile.go b/cloud/services/container/nodepools/reconcile.go
index 9515ef475..fe0251220 100644
--- a/cloud/services/container/nodepools/reconcile.go
+++ b/cloud/services/container/nodepools/reconcile.go
@@ -341,10 +341,16 @@ func (s *Service) checkDiffAndPrepareUpdateVersionOrImage(existingNodePool *cont
 		existingVersion := semver.MustParse(existingNodePool.Version)
 		nodePoolVersion := semver.MustParse(*s.scope.NodePoolVersion())
 
-		if len(nodePoolVersion.Pre) > 0 && existingVersion.EQ(nodePoolVersion) {
+		if len(nodePoolVersion.Pre) > 0 && existingVersion.LT(nodePoolVersion) {
+			log.V(0).Info("pre-release version detected",
+				"current", existingVersion,
+				"desired", nodePoolVersion)
 			needUpdate = true
 		} else {
 			if nodePoolVersion.FinalizeVersion() != existingVersion.FinalizeVersion() {
+				log.V(0).Info("no pre-release version detected",
+					"current", existingVersion,
+					"desired", nodePoolVersion)
 				needUpdate = true
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index d85581c0d..ab3511020 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ module sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api-provider-gcp
 
 go 1.22
 
+toolchain go1.22.4
+
 require (
 	cloud.google.com/go/compute v1.21.0
 	cloud.google.com/go/container v1.22.1