diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d0c3500e7f7..dcd74486d82 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -197,7 +197,6 @@ acceptance-test-rpm-package-install: $(SNAPSHOTDIR)
 			$(ACC_TEST_IMAGE) \
 			$(RESULTSDIR)
 
-# TODO: this is not releasing yet
 .PHONY: release
 release: clean-dist ## Build and publish final binaries and packages
 	$(call title,Publishing release artifacts)
@@ -214,7 +213,16 @@ release: clean-dist ## Build and publish final binaries and packages
 
 	# create a version file for version-update checks
 	echo "$(VERSION)" > $(DISTDIR)/VERSION
-	# TODO: add upload to bucket
+
+	# upload the version file that supports the application version update check
+	@docker run --rm \
+		-i \
+		-e AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=us-west-2 \
+		-e AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=${TOOLBOX_AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID} \
+		-e AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=${TOOLBOX_AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY} \
+		-v $(shell pwd)/$(DISTDIR)/:/dist \
+		amazon/aws-cli --debug \
+			s3 cp $(DISTDIR)/VERSION s3://anchore-toolbox/$(BIN)/releases/latest/VERSION
 
 .PHONY: clean
 clean: clean-dist clean-snapshot  ## Remove previous builds and result reports
@@ -226,4 +234,4 @@ clean-snapshot:
 
 .PHONY: clean-dist
 clean-dist:
-	rm -rf $(DISTDIR) $(TEMPDIR)/goreleaser.yaml
\ No newline at end of file
+	rm -rf $(DISTDIR) $(TEMPDIR)/goreleaser.yaml