@@ -87,7 +87,11 @@ This means that:
 - The `-dev` suffix is removed on the release branch as part of preparing the
   release (see [Prepare PR to Update the Release Version](#2-prepare-pr-to-update-the-release-version))
 - `main` is bumped to the next `-dev` version immediately after a new release
-  branch is created (see [Bump Version on main](#1b-bump-version-on-main))
+  branch is created, via a "version bump PR" (see
+  [Bump Version on main](#1b-bump-version-on-main))
+- The release version is never synced back to `main`: after a release only the
+  changelog and the user facing documentation are synced (see
+  [Sync Changelog and Documentation to main](#11-sync-changelog-and-documentation-to-main))
 - The `created_by` field written to Parquet files and the output of the SQL
   `version()` function show whether a build came from `main` or from a release
 
@@ -106,9 +110,11 @@ git push -u apache branch-56 # push branch to apache remote
 
 ### 1b. Bump Version on main
 
-Right after creating a new major release branch, create a PR against `main`
-that bumps the version to the next development version so that new PRs merged
-to `main` are labeled with the correct target release.
+Right after creating a new major release branch, open a "version bump PR"
+against `main` that bumps the version to the next development version. Merge
+it as soon as CI passes: PRs merged to `main` before the bump are labeled with
+the previous release (for example `v56.0.0` instead of `v57.0.0`) by the
+[release version labeler](../../ci/scripts/release_version_labeler.js).
 
 For example, after creating `branch-56` from `main` at version `56.0.0-dev`,
 bump `main` to `57.0.0-dev`:
@@ -123,9 +129,19 @@ sed -i '' "s/const target_version = '.*'/const target_version = 'v57.0.0'/" ci/s
 git commit -a -m 'Bump main version to 57.0.0-dev'
 ```
 
+The version bump PR should only change:
+
+- `Cargo.toml` and `Cargo.lock`
+- `docs/source/user-guide/configs.md` (the default `created_by` includes the version)
+- `ci/scripts/release_version_labeler.js`
+
 The user facing crate examples (such as `docs/source/download.md`) continue to
 reference the latest _released_ version since `-dev` versions are never
-published to crates.io.
+published to crates.io. They are updated after the release in
+[Sync Changelog and Documentation to main](#11-sync-changelog-and-documentation-to-main).
+
+See [#26845](https://github.com/apache/datafusion/pull/26845) for an example
+version bump PR.
 
 This step is not needed for patch releases, which are made from an existing
 release branch.
@@ -523,21 +539,38 @@ Caused by:
 Note: [`datafusion` formula](https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/datafusion) is [updated automatically](https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/pulls?q=is%3Apr+datafusion+is%3Aclosed),
 so no action is needed.
 
-### 11. Sync Changelog and Version to main
+### 11. Sync Changelog and Documentation to main
+
+The crate version is **not** synced back to `main`: `main` already carries the
+next development version (such as `57.0.0-dev`) from
+[Bump Version on main](#1b-bump-version-on-main), and the released version
+must never appear on `main`.
 
-To sync changelog version and create PR against `main`:
+Instead, create a PR against `main` that syncs the changelog and updates the
+user facing documentation to reference the new release:
 
 ```shell
-git fetch apache && git checkout -b sync_change_log_version
+git fetch apache && git checkout -b sync_change_log apache/main
 ```
 
-- Cherry-pick or patch the version updates from step 2
 - Cherry-pick or patch the changelog updates from step 5
-- Commit changes, `git commit -a -m 'Sync changelog and version to main'`
-- Push to `origin/sync_change_log_version`
+- Update the crate version in the user facing examples to the newly released
+  version, for example from `55.1.0` to `56.0.0`:
+
+  ```shell
+  sed -i '' 's/55\.1\.0/56.0.0/' docs/source/download.md docs/source/user-guide/{crate-configuration,example-usage}.md
+  ```
+
+- Do **not** change `Cargo.toml`, `Cargo.lock`, `docs/source/user-guide/configs.md`
+  or `ci/scripts/release_version_labeler.js`, which must keep the `-dev` version
+- Commit changes, `git commit -a -m 'Sync changelog and docs for 56.0.0 to main'`
+- Push to `origin/sync_change_log`
 - Create a PR against `main`.
 - Merge to `main`.
 
+The version picker for the published documentation is updated separately, see
+[Publish the versioned documentation](#publish-the-versioned-documentation).
+
 ### 12. Add the release to Apache Reporter
 
 When you have published the release, please help the project by adding the release to