diff --git a/tools/build/build_asf.sh b/tools/build/build_asf.sh
old mode 100755
new mode 100644
index 6170cd50df4..02a5a27d13c
--- a/tools/build/build_asf.sh
+++ b/tools/build/build_asf.sh
@@ -102,6 +102,11 @@ esac
 
 git clean -f
 
+#create a RC branch
+RELEASE_BRANCH="RC" + `date +%Y%m%dT%H%M`
+git branch $branch-$RELEASE_BRANCH
+
+
 echo 'commit changes'
 git commit -a -s -m "Updating pom.xml version numbers for release $version"
 export commitsh=`git show HEAD | head -n 1 | cut -d ' ' -f 2`
@@ -164,8 +169,4 @@ if [ "$committosvn" == "yes" ]; then
   svn commit -m "Committing release candidate artifacts for $version to dist/dev/cloudstack in preparation for release vote"
 fi
 
-echo 'revert version changes'
-cd $sourcedir
-git revert --no-edit $commitsh
-
 echo "completed.  use commit-sh of $commitsh when starting the VOTE thread"