diff --git a/npm-publish-prerelease/README.md b/npm-publish-prerelease/README.md
index b177807b..eb1e5614 100644
--- a/npm-publish-prerelease/README.md
+++ b/npm-publish-prerelease/README.md
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ This action will publish a prerelease version of the package to npm with the spe
 * `NPM_TOKEN`: (required) the npm token used to publish the package.
 * `GH_TOKEN`: (optional) the GitHub access token to use (default: `${{ github.token }}`).
 * `node-version`: (optional) the Node.js version to use for the Action.
+* `npm-version`: (optional) the npm version to use for the Action (default: `latest`).
 * `NPM_TAG`: (optional) NPM [distribution tag](https://docs.npmjs.com/adding-dist-tags-to-packages) (default: `next`).
 * `PROVENANCE`: (optional) set to `true` to generate provenance statement for the published package. Requires the `id-token: write` permission.
 
diff --git a/npm-publish-prerelease/action.yml b/npm-publish-prerelease/action.yml
index 0c65869f..1398b3f4 100644
--- a/npm-publish-prerelease/action.yml
+++ b/npm-publish-prerelease/action.yml
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ inputs:
     description: 'The Node.js version to use in the Action'
     required: false
     default: 'lts/*'
+  npm-version:
+    description: 'The npm version to use in the Action'
+    required: false
+    default: 'latest'
   PROVENANCE:
     description: 'Generate provenance statement for the published package.'
     default: 'false'
@@ -36,6 +40,12 @@ runs:
         registry-url: https://registry.npmjs.org/
         cache: npm
 
+    - name: Setup npm
+      shell: bash
+      run: npm install --global "npm@${NPM_VERSION}"
+      env:
+        NPM_VERSION: ${{ inputs.npm-version }}
+
     - name: git config
       shell: bash
       run: |
diff --git a/npm-publish-prerelease/bin/publish.sh b/npm-publish-prerelease/bin/publish.sh
index d138efa5..514274de 100755
--- a/npm-publish-prerelease/bin/publish.sh
+++ b/npm-publish-prerelease/bin/publish.sh
@@ -18,10 +18,6 @@ LOCAL_VERSION=$(node -p "require('./package.json').version")
 LOCAL_BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current)
 echo "✅ Found ${LOCAL_NAME} ${LOCAL_VERSION} on branch ${LOCAL_BRANCH}"
 
-# Update npm
-echo_title "Updating npm to latest version"
-npm install -g npm
-
 # If not using Trusted Publishing, validate npm is logged in and ready
 if [ "${USE_TRUSTED_PUBLISHING:-}" != "true" ]; then
 	echo_title "Checking npm auth"
diff --git a/npm-publish/README.md b/npm-publish/README.md
index af0cb06a..0dfded66 100644
--- a/npm-publish/README.md
+++ b/npm-publish/README.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ The `npm-prepare-release` action is meant to be called first and will create a p
 
 * `GH_TOKEN`: (required) the GitHub access token to use. It is recommended to use the standard GitHub Actions access token (used in example).
 * `node-version`: (optional) the Node.js version to use for the Action.
+* `npm-version`: (optional) the npm version to use for the Action (default: `latest`).
 * `PROVENANCE`: (optional) set to `true` to generate provenance statement for the published package. Requires the `id-token: write` permission.
 * `CONVENTIONAL_COMMITS`: (optional) set to `true` to generate commit messages that follow the [Conventional Commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org/en/v1.0.0/#specification) specification.
 * `SKIP_BUMP_TO_DEV`: (optional) set to `true` to skip bumping to dev version after publishing the release. Might be useful for projects using `nlm`.
diff --git a/npm-publish/action.yml b/npm-publish/action.yml
index 9c8c798d..9166d064 100644
--- a/npm-publish/action.yml
+++ b/npm-publish/action.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ inputs:
     description: 'The Node.js version to use in the Action'
     required: false
     default: 'lts/*'
+  npm-version:
+    description: 'The npm version to use in the Action'
+    required: false
+    default: 'latest'
   PROVENANCE:
     description: 'Generate provenance statement for the published package.'
     default: 'false'
@@ -42,6 +46,12 @@ runs:
         node-version: ${{ inputs.node-version }}
         registry-url: https://registry.npmjs.org/
 
+    - name: Setup npm
+      shell: bash
+      run: npm install --global "npm@${NPM_VERSION}"
+      env:
+        NPM_VERSION: ${{ inputs.npm-version }}
+
     - name: git config
       shell: bash
       run: |
diff --git a/npm-publish/bin/publish.sh b/npm-publish/bin/publish.sh
index 1ea83b4c..e84b0ffa 100755
--- a/npm-publish/bin/publish.sh
+++ b/npm-publish/bin/publish.sh
@@ -26,10 +26,6 @@ else
 	echo "✅ Determined only .json files are changed in PR"
 fi
 
-# Update npm
-echo_title "Updating npm to latest version"
-npm install -g npm
-
 # Determine and validate release type
 echo_title "Determining and validating NPM release type"
 NPM_VERSION_TYPE=$(echo "$PR_HEAD_REF" | awk -F '/' '{print $2}' | awk -F '-' '{print $1}')