diff --git a/hack/release.sh b/hack/release.sh
index d5df367b93..bd8d4c8800 100755
--- a/hack/release.sh
+++ b/hack/release.sh
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ EOF
 [ "$AWS_ACCESS_KEY" ] || usage
 [ "$AWS_SECRET_KEY" ] || usage
 [ "$GPG_PASSPHRASE" ] || usage
+: ${GPG_KEYID:=releasedocker}
 [ -d /go/src/github.com/docker/docker ] || usage
 cd /go/src/github.com/docker/docker
 [ -x hack/make.sh ] || usage