diff --git a/.github/workflows/helm-release.yaml b/.github/workflows/helm-release.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d8a2304f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/helm-release.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+name: Release Helm Charts
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+
+jobs:
+  release:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v2
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: Configure Git
+        run: |
+          git config user.name "$GITHUB_ACTOR"
+          git config user.email "$GITHUB_ACTOR@users.noreply.github.com"
+
+      - name: Install Helm
+        uses: azure/setup-helm@v1
+        with:
+          version: v3.14.3
+
+      - name: Run chart-releaser for opensearch-cluster
+        uses: helm/chart-releaser-action@v1.6.0
+        with:
+          charts_dir: charts/opensearch-cluster
+        env:
+          CR_TOKEN: "${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index 23ed9b26..20397015 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -23,24 +23,23 @@ jobs:
         id: github-ver
         run: |
           echo "RELEASE_VERSION=${GITHUB_REF#refs/*/v}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-
+  
       - name: Make sure helm chart has correct versions
         run: |
           sed -i -e 's/^appVersion:.*/appVersion: '$RELEASE_VERSION'/' charts/opensearch-operator/Chart.yaml
           sed -i -e 's/^version:.*/version: '$RELEASE_VERSION'/' charts/opensearch-operator/Chart.yaml
-          sed -i -e 's/^appVersion:.*/appVersion: '$RELEASE_VERSION'/' charts/opensearch-cluster/Chart.yaml
-          sed -i -e 's/^version:.*/version: '$RELEASE_VERSION'/' charts/opensearch-cluster/Chart.yaml
 
       - name: Install Helm
         uses: azure/setup-helm@v4
         with:
           version: v3.14.3
 
-      - name: Publish helm chart
-        uses: stefanprodan/helm-gh-pages@master
+      - name: Run chart-releaser for opensearch-operator
+        uses: helm/chart-releaser-action@v1.6.0
         with:
-          charts_dir: charts/
-          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          charts_dir: charts/opensearch-operator
+        env:
+          CR_TOKEN: "${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}"
 
       - name: Create Release
         uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
diff --git a/charts/opensearch-cluster/CHANGELOG.md b/charts/opensearch-cluster/CHANGELOG.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cda46edd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/charts/opensearch-cluster/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+# Changelog
+All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
+
+The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
+and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
+
+---
+## [Unreleased]
+### Added
+### Changed
+### Deprecated
+### Removed
+### Fixed
+### Security
+---
+
+## [2.6.1]
+### Added
+### Changed
+- Updated `version` and `appVersion` to `2.6.1` for the initial release after the helm release decouple.
+### Deprecated
+### Removed
+### Fixed
+### Security
+
+[Unreleased]: https://github.com/opensearch-project/opensearch-k8s-operator/compare/opensearch-operator-2.6.1...HEAD
+[2.6.1]: https://github.com/opensearch-project/opensearch-k8s-operator/compare/opensearch-operator-2.6.0...opensearch-operator-2.6.1
+
diff --git a/charts/opensearch-cluster/Chart.yaml b/charts/opensearch-cluster/Chart.yaml
index fe92e924..294ebdc9 100644
--- a/charts/opensearch-cluster/Chart.yaml
+++ b/charts/opensearch-cluster/Chart.yaml
@@ -2,5 +2,9 @@ apiVersion: v2
 name: opensearch-cluster
 description: A Helm chart for OpenSearch Cluster
 type: application
-version: 2.6.0
-appVersion: 2.6.0
+
+## The opensearch-cluster Helm Chart version
+version: 2.6.1
+
+## The operator version
+appVersion: 2.6.1
diff --git a/charts/opensearch-operator/Chart.yaml b/charts/opensearch-operator/Chart.yaml
index 2cf3b638..6623444a 100644
--- a/charts/opensearch-operator/Chart.yaml
+++ b/charts/opensearch-operator/Chart.yaml
@@ -12,12 +12,12 @@ description: The OpenSearch Operator Helm chart for Kubernetes
 # pipeline. Library charts do not define any templates and therefore cannot be deployed.
 type: application
 
-# This is the chart version. This version number should be incremented each time you make changes
+# This is the opensearch-operator chart version. This version number should be incremented each time you make changes
 # to the chart and its templates, including the app version.
 # Versions are expected to follow Semantic Versioning (https://semver.org/)
 version: 2.6.0
 
-# This is the version number of the application being deployed. This version number should be
+# This is the version number of the application being deployed (the operator). This version number should be
 # incremented each time you make changes to the application. Versions are not expected to
 # follow Semantic Versioning. They should reflect the version the application is using.
 # It is recommended to use it with quotes.