diff --git a/aegir-dev.make b/aegir-dev.make
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2fb08a00398e22dcdeb1312f2bcb9da6be549bfe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/aegir-dev.make
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+core = 6.x
+api = 2
+
+projects[drupal][type] = "core"
+projects[drupal][version] = "6.28"
+projects[drupal][patch][] = "http://drupal.org/files/common.inc_6.28.patch"
+
+projects[hostmaster][type] = "profile"
+projects[hostmaster][download][type] = "git"
+projects[hostmaster][download][url] = "http://git.drupal.org/project/hostmaster.git"
+projects[hostmaster][download][branch] = "6.x-2.x"
diff --git a/aegir-release.make b/aegir-release.make
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..77f7490116dab06efecf34bd6f795a7f8d124ae9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/aegir-release.make
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+core = 6.x
+api = 2
+
+; this makefile fetches the latest release from Drupal.org
+; it is maintained through the release.sh script
+projects[hostmaster][type] = "core"
+projects[hostmaster][patch][] = "http://drupal.org/files/common.inc_6.28.patch"
+projects[hostmaster][version] = "6.x-2.0-rc4"
diff --git a/aegir.make b/aegir.make
deleted file mode 100644
index 2fb08a00398e22dcdeb1312f2bcb9da6be549bfe..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/aegir.make
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-core = 6.x
-api = 2
-
-projects[drupal][type] = "core"
-projects[drupal][version] = "6.28"
-projects[drupal][patch][] = "http://drupal.org/files/common.inc_6.28.patch"
-
-projects[hostmaster][type] = "profile"
-projects[hostmaster][download][type] = "git"
-projects[hostmaster][download][url] = "http://git.drupal.org/project/hostmaster.git"
-projects[hostmaster][download][branch] = "6.x-2.x"
diff --git a/aegir.make b/aegir.make
new file mode 120000
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f6e35b975feae015d21a03f4812e212d0079b010
--- /dev/null
+++ b/aegir.make
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+aegir-release.make
\ No newline at end of file