diff --git a/docs/process/release-technician-checklist.txt b/docs/process/release-technician-checklist.txt
index 4b061bf5f2..7bbe7c1489 100644
--- a/docs/process/release-technician-checklist.txt
+++ b/docs/process/release-technician-checklist.txt
@@ -53,6 +53,9 @@ t=RELEASE-$r
     - "Xen 4.5-unstable" on unstable
     - "Xen 4.5-rc" for release candidate
 
+* for major releases, drop staging-only text from MAINTAINERS and add stable
+  maintainer(s) there
+
 * change xen-unstable Config.mk
 #   QEMU_UPSTREAM_REVISION,
 #   QEMU_TRADITIONAL_REVISION