diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 360bb88..e88d853 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -25,21 +25,11 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
         with:
           node-version: 20
-      - id: install-zx
-        run: npm i -g zx
-      - id: install-semver-tool
-        run: |
-          wget -O /usr/local/bin/semver https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fsaintjacques/semver-tool/master/src/semver
-          chmod +x /usr/local/bin/semver
-      - run: zx ./release.mjs -v $VERSION_TO_BUMP
+      - run: yarn install
+      - run: yarn zx ./release.mjs -v $VERSION_TO_BUMP
         env:
           VERSION_TO_BUMP: ${{ inputs.versionToBump }}
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
-      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
-        with:
-          node-version: 20
-          registry-url: https://registry.npmjs.org/
-      - run: yarn install
       - run: yarn build
       - run: yarn publish
         env:
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 33bc2e2..a926feb 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -39,8 +39,10 @@
     "jest-environment-jsdom": "29.7.0",
     "react": "18.3.1",
     "react-dom": "18.3.1",
+    "semver": "7.6.2",
     "ts-jest": "29.1.5",
     "tsup": "8.1.0",
-    "typescript": "5.5.3"
+    "typescript": "5.5.3",
+    "zx": "8.1.4"
   }
 }
diff --git a/release.mjs b/release.mjs
index 4eaefc7..952f0ee 100755
--- a/release.mjs
+++ b/release.mjs
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env zx
-
 /*
 * Script to release the seats.io java lib.
 *   - changes the version number in README.md
@@ -10,11 +8,12 @@
 * Prerequisites:
 *   - zx installed (https://github.com/google/zx)
 *   - gh cli installed (https://cli.github.com/)
-*   - semver cli installed (https://github.com/fsaintjacques/semver-tool)
 *
 * Usage:
-*   zx ./release.mjs -v major/minor -n "release notes"
-* */
+*   yarn zx ./release.mjs -v major/minor -n "release notes"
+*
+*/
+const semver = require('semver')
 
 // don't output the commands themselves
 $.verbose = false
@@ -49,7 +48,7 @@ async function fetchLatestReleasedVersionNumber() {
 }
 
 async function determineNextVersionNumber(previous) {
-    return (await $`semver bump ${versionToBump} ${previous}`).stdout.trim()
+    return semver.inc(previous, versionToBump)
 }
 
 async function bumpVersionInFiles() {
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 34225cb..000abc3 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -895,6 +895,14 @@
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/estree/-/estree-1.0.5.tgz#a6ce3e556e00fd9895dd872dd172ad0d4bd687f4"
   integrity sha512-/kYRxGDLWzHOB7q+wtSUQlFrtcdUccpfy+X+9iMBpHK8QLLhx2wIPYuS5DYtR9Wa/YlZAbIovy7qVdB1Aq6Lyw==
 
+"@types/fs-extra@>=11":
+  version "11.0.4"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/fs-extra/-/fs-extra-11.0.4.tgz#e16a863bb8843fba8c5004362b5a73e17becca45"
+  integrity sha512-yTbItCNreRooED33qjunPthRcSjERP1r4MqCZc7wv0u2sUkzTFp45tgUfS5+r7FrZPdmCCNflLhVSP/o+SemsQ==
+  dependencies:
+    "@types/jsonfile" "*"
+    "@types/node" "*"
+
 "@types/graceful-fs@^4.1.3":
   version "4.1.9"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/graceful-fs/-/graceful-fs-4.1.9.tgz#2a06bc0f68a20ab37b3e36aa238be6abdf49e8b4"
@@ -938,7 +946,14 @@
     "@types/tough-cookie" "*"
     parse5 "^7.0.0"
 
-"@types/node@*":
+"@types/jsonfile@*":
+  version "6.1.4"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/jsonfile/-/jsonfile-6.1.4.tgz#614afec1a1164e7d670b4a7ad64df3e7beb7b702"
+  integrity sha512-D5qGUYwjvnNNextdU59/+fI+spnwtTFmyQP0h+PfIOSkNfpU6AOICUOkm4i0OnSk+NyjdPJrxCDro0sJsWlRpQ==
+  dependencies:
+    "@types/node" "*"
+
+"@types/node@*", "@types/node@>=20":
   version "20.14.10"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/node/-/node-20.14.10.tgz#a1a218290f1b6428682e3af044785e5874db469a"
   integrity sha512-MdiXf+nDuMvY0gJKxyfZ7/6UFsETO7mGKF54MVD/ekJS6HdFtpZFBgrh6Pseu64XTb2MLyFPlbW6hj8HYRQNOQ==
@@ -3430,3 +3445,11 @@ yocto-queue@^0.1.0:
   version "0.1.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/yocto-queue/-/yocto-queue-0.1.0.tgz#0294eb3dee05028d31ee1a5fa2c556a6aaf10a1b"
   integrity sha512-rVksvsnNCdJ/ohGc6xgPwyN8eheCxsiLM8mxuE/t/mOVqJewPuO1miLpTHQiRgTKCLexL4MeAFVagts7HmNZ2Q==
+
+zx@8.1.4:
+  version "8.1.4"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/zx/-/zx-8.1.4.tgz#19bcd543fab34d01d7d4174a314b33cde9115a17"
+  integrity sha512-QFDYYpnzdpRiJ3dL2102Cw26FpXpWshW4QLTGxiYfIcwdAqg084jRCkK/kuP/NOSkxOjydRwNFG81qzA5r1a6w==
+  optionalDependencies:
+    "@types/fs-extra" ">=11"
+    "@types/node" ">=20"