diff --git a/internal/task/fakes.go b/internal/task/fakes.go
index c72d6372..8f64368c 100644
--- a/internal/task/fakes.go
+++ b/internal/task/fakes.go
@@ -220,9 +220,14 @@ func (g *FakeGerrit) ReadBranchHead(ctx context.Context, project, branch string)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
-	// TODO: If the branch doesn't exist, return an error matching gerrit.ErrResourceNotExist.
 	out, err := repo.dir.RunCommand(ctx, "rev-parse", "refs/heads/"+branch)
 	if err != nil {
+		// TODO(hxjiang): switch to git show-ref --exists refs/heads/branch after
+		// upgrade git to 2.43.0.
+		// https://git-scm.com/docs/git-show-ref/2.43.0#Documentation/git-show-ref.txt---exists
+		if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "unknown revision or path not in the working tree") {
+			return "", gerrit.ErrResourceNotExist
+		}
 		// Returns empty string if the error is nil to align the same behavior with
 		// the real Gerrit client.
 		return "", err
diff --git a/internal/task/releasegopls.go b/internal/task/releasegopls.go
index b7a1251c..c6fbe0d7 100644
--- a/internal/task/releasegopls.go
+++ b/internal/task/releasegopls.go
@@ -551,6 +551,8 @@ func parseSemver(v string) (_ semversion, ok bool) {
 	return parsed, ok
 }
 
+// prereleaseVersion extracts the integer component from a pre-release version
+// string in the format "${STRING}.${INT}".
 func (s *semversion) prereleaseVersion() (int, error) {
 	parts := strings.Split(s.Pre, ".")
 	if len(parts) == 1 {
diff --git a/internal/task/releasevscodego.go b/internal/task/releasevscodego.go
index bd19ce46..b96d9583 100644
--- a/internal/task/releasevscodego.go
+++ b/internal/task/releasevscodego.go
@@ -6,11 +6,13 @@ package task
 
 import (
 	_ "embed"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/google/go-github/v48/github"
+	"golang.org/x/build/gerrit"
 	"golang.org/x/build/internal/relui/groups"
 	"golang.org/x/build/internal/workflow"
 	wf "golang.org/x/build/internal/workflow"
@@ -130,6 +132,7 @@ func (r *ReleaseVSCodeGoTasks) NewPrereleaseDefinition() *wf.Definition {
 	approved := wf.Action1(wd, "await release coordinator's approval", r.approveVersion, semv)
 
 	_ = wf.Task1(wd, "create release milestone and issue", r.createReleaseMilestoneAndIssue, semv, wf.After(approved))
+	_ = wf.Action1(wd, "create release branch", r.createReleaseBranch, semv, wf.After(approved))
 
 	return wd
 }
@@ -173,6 +176,52 @@ func (r *ReleaseVSCodeGoTasks) createReleaseMilestoneAndIssue(ctx *wf.TaskContex
 	return *issue.Number, nil
 }
 
+// createReleaseBranch creates corresponding release branch only for the initial
+// release candidate of a minor version.
+func (r *ReleaseVSCodeGoTasks) createReleaseBranch(ctx *wf.TaskContext, semv semversion) error {
+	branch := fmt.Sprintf("release-v%v.%v", semv.Major, semv.Minor)
+	releaseHead, err := r.Gerrit.ReadBranchHead(ctx, "vscode-go", branch)
+
+	if err == nil {
+		ctx.Printf("Found the release branch %q with head pointing to %s\n", branch, releaseHead)
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	if !errors.Is(err, gerrit.ErrResourceNotExist) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to read the release branch: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	// Require vscode release branch existence if this is a non-minor release.
+	if semv.Patch != 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("release branch is required for patch releases: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	rc, err := semv.prereleaseVersion()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// Require vscode release branch existence if this is not the first rc in
+	// a minor release.
+	if rc != 1 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("release branch is required for non-initial release candidates: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	// Create the release branch using the revision from the head of master branch.
+	head, err := r.Gerrit.ReadBranchHead(ctx, "vscode-go", "master")
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	ctx.DisableRetries() // Beyond this point we want retries to be done manually, not automatically.
+	_, err = r.Gerrit.CreateBranch(ctx, "vscode-go", branch, gerrit.BranchInput{Revision: head})
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	ctx.Printf("Created branch %q at revision %s.\n", branch, head)
+	return nil
+}
+
 // nextPrereleaseVersion determines the next pre-release version for the
 // upcoming stable release of vscode-go by examining all existing tags in the
 // repository.
diff --git a/internal/task/releasevscodego_test.go b/internal/task/releasevscodego_test.go
index 839116da..72aab418 100644
--- a/internal/task/releasevscodego_test.go
+++ b/internal/task/releasevscodego_test.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ package task
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"fmt"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/google/go-github/v48/github"
@@ -79,6 +80,83 @@ func TestCreateReleaseMilestoneAndIssue(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestCreateReleaseBranch(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	testcases := []struct {
+		name           string
+		version        string
+		existingBranch bool
+		wantErr        bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name:           "nil if the release branch does not exist for first rc in a minor release",
+			version:        "v0.44.0-rc.1",
+			existingBranch: false,
+			wantErr:        false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:           "nil if the release branch already exist for non-initial rc in a minor release",
+			version:        "v0.44.0-rc.4",
+			existingBranch: true,
+			wantErr:        false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:           "fail if the release branch does not exist for non-initial rc in a minor release",
+			version:        "v0.44.0-rc.4",
+			existingBranch: false,
+			wantErr:        true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:           "nil if the release branch already exist for a patch version",
+			version:        "v0.44.3-rc.3",
+			existingBranch: true,
+			wantErr:        false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:           "fail if the release branch does not exist for a patch version",
+			version:        "v0.44.3-rc.3",
+			existingBranch: false,
+			wantErr:        true,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range testcases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			semv, ok := parseSemver(tc.version)
+			if !ok {
+				t.Fatalf("failed to parse the want version: %q", tc.version)
+			}
+
+			vscodego := NewFakeRepo(t, "vscode-go")
+			commit := vscodego.Commit(map[string]string{
+				"go.mod": "module github.com/golang/vscode-go\n",
+				"go.sum": "\n",
+			})
+			if tc.existingBranch {
+				vscodego.Branch(fmt.Sprintf("release-v%v.%v", semv.Major, semv.Minor), commit)
+			}
+
+			gerrit := NewFakeGerrit(t, vscodego)
+			tasks := &ReleaseVSCodeGoTasks{
+				Gerrit: gerrit,
+			}
+
+			err := tasks.createReleaseBranch(&workflow.TaskContext{Context: ctx, Logger: &testLogger{t, ""}}, semv)
+			if tc.wantErr && err == nil {
+				t.Errorf("createReleaseBranch(%q) should return error but return nil", tc.version)
+			} else if !tc.wantErr && err != nil {
+				t.Errorf("createReleaseBranch(%q) should return nil but return err: %v", tc.version, err)
+			}
+
+			if !tc.wantErr {
+				if _, err := gerrit.ReadBranchHead(ctx, "vscode-go", fmt.Sprintf("release-v%v.%v", semv.Major, semv.Minor)); err != nil {
+					t.Errorf("createReleaseBranch(%q) should ensure the release branch creation: %v", tc.version, err)
+				}
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func TestNextPrereleaseVersion(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		name         string