diff --git a/.release-please-manifest.json b/.release-please-manifest.json
index b637db6f..6a15549e 100644
--- a/.release-please-manifest.json
+++ b/.release-please-manifest.json
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
-  ".": "7.6.3"
+  ".": "7.7.0"
 }
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4910123d..b4ddfe57 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,19 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [7.7.0](https://github.com/npm/node-semver/compare/v7.6.3...v7.7.0) (2025-01-29)
+### Features
+* [`0864b3c`](https://github.com/npm/node-semver/commit/0864b3ce7932667013e0c7c5ec764777d4682883) [#753](https://github.com/npm/node-semver/pull/753) add "release" inc type (#753) (@mbtools)
+### Bug Fixes
+* [`d588e37`](https://github.com/npm/node-semver/commit/d588e3782864b1cab2fe9f2452b848e8c7f609d1) [#755](https://github.com/npm/node-semver/pull/755) diff: fix prerelease to stable version diff logic (#755) (@eminberkayd, berkay.daglar)
+* [`8a34bde`](https://github.com/npm/node-semver/commit/8a34bdecc783407f4e1a8a1ee1f67906b84a4b78) [#754](https://github.com/npm/node-semver/pull/754) add identifier validation to `inc()` (#754) (@mbtools)
+### Documentation
+* [`67e5478`](https://github.com/npm/node-semver/commit/67e54785a0f871361230f84323cbb631b9b6d834) [#756](https://github.com/npm/node-semver/pull/756) readme: added missing period for consistency (#756) (@shaymolcho)
+* [`868d4bb`](https://github.com/npm/node-semver/commit/868d4bbe3d318c52544f38d5f9977a1103e924c2) [#749](https://github.com/npm/node-semver/pull/749) clarify comment about obsolete prefixes (#749) (@mbtools, @ljharb)
+### Chores
+* [`145c554`](https://github.com/npm/node-semver/commit/145c554b8c7b7ecfcb451153ad18bdb2f24ad10d) [#741](https://github.com/npm/node-semver/pull/741) bump @npmcli/eslint-config from 4.0.5 to 5.0.0 (@dependabot[bot])
+* [`753e02b`](https://github.com/npm/node-semver/commit/753e02b9d0cb3ac23e085dc33efcab3e08d61f2b) [#747](https://github.com/npm/node-semver/pull/747) bump @npmcli/template-oss from 4.23.3 to 4.23.4 (#747) (@dependabot[bot], @npm-cli-bot)
+* [`0b812d5`](https://github.com/npm/node-semver/commit/0b812d5fb5fbb208e89dc1250e2efafeaa549437) [#744](https://github.com/npm/node-semver/pull/744) postinstall for dependabot template-oss PR (@hashtagchris)
+
 ## [7.6.3](https://github.com/npm/node-semver/compare/v7.6.2...v7.6.3) (2024-07-16)
 
 ### Bug Fixes
diff --git a/functions/diff.js b/functions/diff.js
index fc224e30..33171dc1 100644
--- a/functions/diff.js
+++ b/functions/diff.js
@@ -27,20 +27,13 @@ const diff = (version1, version2) => {
       return 'major'
     }
 
-    // Otherwise it can be determined by checking the high version
-
-    if (highVersion.patch) {
-      // anything higher than a patch bump would result in the wrong version
+    // If the main part has no difference
+    if (lowVersion.compareMain(highVersion) === 0) {
+      if (lowVersion.minor && !lowVersion.patch) {
+        return 'minor'
+      }
       return 'patch'
     }
-
-    if (highVersion.minor) {
-      // anything higher than a minor bump would result in the wrong version
-      return 'minor'
-    }
-
-    // bumping major/minor/patch all have same result
-    return 'major'
   }
 
   // add the `pre` prefix if we are going to a prerelease version
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index c03ecb50..405fb66e 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "semver",
-  "version": "7.6.3",
+  "version": "7.7.0",
   "description": "The semantic version parser used by npm.",
   "main": "index.js",
   "scripts": {
diff --git a/test/functions/diff.js b/test/functions/diff.js
index 720e159b..80f5e3c3 100644
--- a/test/functions/diff.js
+++ b/test/functions/diff.js
@@ -34,6 +34,13 @@ test('diff versions test', (t) => {
     ['1.0.0-1', '2.0.0-1', 'premajor'],
     ['1.0.0-1', '1.1.0-1', 'preminor'],
     ['1.0.0-1', '1.0.1-1', 'prepatch'],
+    ['1.7.2-1', '1.8.1', 'minor'],
+    ['1.1.1-pre', '2.1.1-pre', 'premajor'],
+    ['1.1.1-pre', '2.1.1', 'major'],
+    ['1.2.3-1', '1.2.3', 'patch'],
+    ['1.4.0-1', '2.3.5', 'major'],
+    ['1.6.1-5', '1.7.2', 'minor'],
+    ['2.0.0-1', '2.1.1', 'major'],
   ].forEach((v) => {
     const version1 = v[0]
     const version2 = v[1]