diff --git a/xtask/src/main.rs b/xtask/src/main.rs
index f7a79362d95..f447613d430 100644
--- a/xtask/src/main.rs
+++ b/xtask/src/main.rs
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
     install::{ClientOpt, InstallCmd, ServerOpt},
     not_bash::pushd,
     pre_commit, project_root,
-    release::ReleaseCmd,
+    release::{PromoteCmd, ReleaseCmd},
     run_clippy, run_fuzzer, run_pre_cache, run_rustfmt, Result,
 };
 
@@ -105,6 +105,11 @@ fn main() -> Result<()> {
             args.finish()?;
             ReleaseCmd { dry_run }.run()
         }
+        "promote" => {
+            let dry_run = args.contains("--dry-run");
+            args.finish()?;
+            PromoteCmd { dry_run }.run()
+        }
         "dist" => {
             let nightly = args.contains("--nightly");
             let client_version: Option<String> = args.opt_value_from_str("--client")?;
diff --git a/xtask/src/not_bash.rs b/xtask/src/not_bash.rs
index a6431e58633..8844fa2168a 100644
--- a/xtask/src/not_bash.rs
+++ b/xtask/src/not_bash.rs
@@ -153,7 +153,17 @@ fn run_process_inner(cmd: &str, echo: bool, stdin: Option<&[u8]>) -> Result<Stri
 
 // FIXME: some real shell lexing here
 fn shelx(cmd: &str) -> Vec<String> {
-    cmd.split_whitespace().map(|it| it.to_string()).collect()
+    let mut res = Vec::new();
+    for (string_piece, in_quotes) in cmd.split('\'').zip([false, true].iter().copied().cycle()) {
+        if in_quotes {
+            res.push(string_piece.to_string())
+        } else {
+            if !string_piece.is_empty() {
+                res.extend(string_piece.split_ascii_whitespace().map(|it| it.to_string()))
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    res
 }
 
 struct Env {
diff --git a/xtask/src/release.rs b/xtask/src/release.rs
index 46992c1cacd..170cfee9fe8 100644
--- a/xtask/src/release.rs
+++ b/xtask/src/release.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 use crate::{
     codegen, is_release_tag,
-    not_bash::{date_iso, fs2, run},
+    not_bash::{date_iso, fs2, pushd, run},
     project_root, Mode, Result,
 };
 
@@ -69,3 +69,32 @@ pub fn run(self) -> Result<()> {
         Ok(())
     }
 }
+
+pub struct PromoteCmd {
+    pub dry_run: bool,
+}
+
+impl PromoteCmd {
+    pub fn run(self) -> Result<()> {
+        let _dir = pushd("../rust-rust-analyzer");
+        run!("git switch master")?;
+        run!("git fetch upstream")?;
+        run!("git reset --hard upstream/master")?;
+        run!("git submodule update --recursive")?;
+
+        let branch = format!("rust-analyzer-{}", date_iso()?);
+        run!("git switch -c {}", branch)?;
+        {
+            let _dir = pushd("src/tools/rust-analyzer");
+            run!("git fetch origin")?;
+            run!("git reset --hard origin/release")?;
+        }
+        run!("git add src/tools/rust-analyzer")?;
+        run!("git commit -m':arrow_up: rust-analyzer'")?;
+        if !self.dry_run {
+            run!("git push")?;
+            run!("xdg-open https://github.com/matklad/rust/pull/new/{}", branch)?;
+        }
+        Ok(())
+    }
+}