diff --git a/.github/update-release-branch.py b/.github/update-release-branch.py
index 1addbaced..71f1cd1c7 100644
--- a/.github/update-release-branch.py
+++ b/.github/update-release-branch.py
@@ -93,7 +93,9 @@ def open_pr(repo, all_commits, short_main_sha, branch_name):
   title = 'Merge ' + MAIN_BRANCH + ' into ' + LATEST_RELEASE_BRANCH
 
   # Create the pull request
-  pr = repo.create_pull(title=title, body='\n'.join(body), head=branch_name, base=LATEST_RELEASE_BRANCH)
+  # PR checks won't be triggered on PRs created by Actions. Therefore mark the PR as draft so that
+  # a maintainer can take the PR out of draft, thereby triggering the PR checks.
+  pr = repo.create_pull(title=title, body='\n'.join(body), head=branch_name, base=LATEST_RELEASE_BRANCH, draft=True)
   print('Created PR #' + str(pr.number))
 
   # Assign the conductor
diff --git a/.github/workflows/post-release-mergeback.yml b/.github/workflows/post-release-mergeback.yml
index ee92adbb4..636bd18d1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/post-release-mergeback.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/post-release-mergeback.yml
@@ -106,19 +106,14 @@ jobs:
           git commit -m "Update changelog and version after $VERSION"
           npm version patch
 
-          # when running this workflow on a PR, this is just a test.
-          # so put into draft mode.
-          if [ "$GITHUB_EVENT_NAME" == "pull_request" ]; then
-            DRAFT="--draft"
-          else
-            DRAFT=""
-          fi
-
           git push origin "$NEW_BRANCH"
+
+          # PR checks won't be triggered on PRs created by Actions. Therefore mark the PR as draft
+          # so that a maintainer can take the PR out of draft, thereby triggering the PR checks.
           gh pr create \
             --head "$NEW_BRANCH" \
             --base "$BASE_BRANCH" \
             --title "$PR_TITLE" \
             --label "Update dependencies" \
             --body "$PR_BODY" \
-            ${DRAFT:+"$DRAFT"} # no quotes around $DRAFT. gh will error out if there is an empty ""
+            --draft
diff --git a/.github/workflows/update-release-branch.yml b/.github/workflows/update-release-branch.yml
index f6a851084..60817f215 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/update-release-branch.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/update-release-branch.yml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ jobs:
     - name: Install dependencies
       run: |
         python -m pip install --upgrade pip
-        pip install PyGithub==1.51 requests
+        pip install PyGithub==1.55 requests
 
     - name: Update git config
       run: |