diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.generate.ts b/.github/workflows/ci.generate.ts
index c52ef011f8..ef37374c4d 100755
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.generate.ts
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.generate.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@
 // Copyright 2018-2023 the Deno authors. All rights reserved. MIT license.
 import * as yaml from "https://deno.land/std@0.173.0/encoding/yaml.ts";
 
+// Bump this number when you want to purge the cache.
+// Note: the tools/release/01_bump_crate_versions.ts script will update this version
+// automatically via regex, so ensure that this line maintains this format.
+const cacheVersion = 32;
+
 const Runners = (() => {
   const ubuntuRunner = "ubuntu-22.04";
   const ubuntuXlRunner = "ubuntu-22.04-xl";
@@ -15,9 +20,8 @@ const Runners = (() => {
     windows: "windows-2022",
   };
 })();
-// bump the number at the start when you want to purge the cache
 const prCacheKeyPrefix =
-  "32-cargo-target-${{ matrix.os }}-${{ matrix.profile }}-${{ matrix.job }}-";
+  `${cacheVersion}-cargo-target-\${{ matrix.os }}-\${{ matrix.profile }}-\${{ matrix.job }}-`;
 
 const installPkgsCommand =
   "sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends debootstrap clang-15 lld-15";
@@ -480,7 +484,7 @@ const ci = {
               "~/.cargo/git/db",
             ].join("\n"),
             key:
-              "32-cargo-home-${{ matrix.os }}-${{ hashFiles('Cargo.lock') }}",
+              `${cacheVersion}-cargo-home-\${{ matrix.os }}-\${{ hashFiles('Cargo.lock') }}`,
           },
         },
         {
diff --git a/tools/release/01_bump_crate_versions.ts b/tools/release/01_bump_crate_versions.ts
index d9c67a8170..c709ccc809 100755
--- a/tools/release/01_bump_crate_versions.ts
+++ b/tools/release/01_bump_crate_versions.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ const repo = workspace.repo;
 const cliCrate = workspace.getCliCrate();
 const originalCliVersion = cliCrate.version;
 
+await bumpCiCacheVersion();
+
 // increment the cli version
 if (Deno.args.some((a) => a === "--patch")) {
   await cliCrate.increment("patch");
@@ -110,3 +112,25 @@ async function updateStdVersion() {
     text.replace(versionRe, `std@${newStdVersion}`),
   );
 }
+
+async function bumpCiCacheVersion() {
+  const generateScript = workspace.repo.folderPath.join(
+    ".github/workflows/ci.generate.ts",
+  );
+  const fileText = generateScript.readTextSync();
+  const cacheVersionRegex = /const cacheVersion = ([0-9]+);/;
+  const version = fileText.match(cacheVersionRegex)?.[1];
+  if (version == null) {
+    throw new Error("Could not find cache version in text.");
+  }
+  const toVersion = parseInt(version, 10) + 1;
+  $.logStep(`Bumping cache version from ${version} to ${toVersion}...`);
+  const newText = fileText.replace(
+    cacheVersionRegex,
+    `const cacheVersion = ${toVersion};`,
+  );
+  generateScript.writeTextSync(newText);
+
+  // run the script
+  await $`${generateScript}`;
+}