diff --git a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yaml b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yaml
index 0876fcad..5ff28f97 100644
--- a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yaml
+++ b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yaml
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ body:
         - releasing/update-version-README.sh
         - releasing/update-version-scripts.sh
         - releasing/update-version-issue-templates.sh
+        - releasing/params/after-version-update-hook.default-args.source.sh
         - releasing/params/after-version-update-hook.params.source.sh
         - releasing/params/after-version-update-hook.params-definition.source.sh
         - releasing/params/prepare-files-next-dev-cycle.default-args.source.sh
diff --git a/scripts/cleanup-on-push-to-main.sh b/scripts/cleanup-on-push-to-main.sh
index 00642077..78aa926e 100755
--- a/scripts/cleanup-on-push-to-main.sh
+++ b/scripts/cleanup-on-push-to-main.sh
@@ -49,9 +49,9 @@ function cleanupOnPushToMain() {
 		releasing/sneak-peek-banner
 		releasing/toggle-sections
 		releasing/update-version-common-steps
+		releasing/update-version-issue-templates
 		releasing/update-version-README
 		releasing/update-version-scripts
-		releasing/update-version-issue-templates
 	)
 
 	for script in "${scriptsWithHelp[@]}"; do
diff --git a/src/releasing/common-constants.source.sh b/src/releasing/common-constants.source.sh
index 1237c3e1..5562913a 100644
--- a/src/releasing/common-constants.source.sh
+++ b/src/releasing/common-constants.source.sh
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ local -r projectsRootDirParamDocu='(optional) The projects directory -- default:
 local -r additionalPatternParamPatternLong='--pattern'
 local -r additionalPatternParamPattern="-p|$additionalPatternParamPatternLong"
 local -r additionalPatternParamDocu='(optional) pattern which is used in a perl command (separator /) to search & replace additional occurrences. It should define two match groups and the replace operation looks as follows: '"\\\${1}\$version\\\${2}"
+local -r additionalPatternDefaultArg=''
 
 local -r nextVersionParamPatternLong='--next-version'
 local -r nextVersionParamPattern="-nv|$nextVersionParamPatternLong"
diff --git a/src/releasing/params/after-version-update-hook.default-args.source.sh b/src/releasing/params/after-version-update-hook.default-args.source.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bf552f88
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/releasing/params/after-version-update-hook.default-args.source.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# shellcheck disable=SC2034,SC2168
+#
+#    __                          __
+#   / /____ ___ ____  ___  ___ _/ /       This script is provided to you by https://github.com/tegonal/scripts
+#  / __/ -_) _ `/ _ \/ _ \/ _ `/ /        Copyright 2022 Tegonal Genossenschaft <info@tegonal.com>
+#  \__/\__/\_, /\___/_//_/\_,_/_/         It is licensed under Apache License 2.0
+#         /___/                           Please report bugs and contribute back your improvements
+#
+#                                         Version: v5.2.0-SNAPSHOT
+#######  Description  #############
+#
+# Defines default args for ...params-definition.source.sh for files which use the same arguments but allow optional
+# parameters (the afterVersionUpdateHook as such should not)
+#
+###################################
+
+if ! [[ -v projectsRootDir ]]; then projectsRootDir=$(realpath ".") || die "could not determine realpath of ."; fi
+# shellcheck disable=SC2154	# defined in common-constants which we assume is sourced when this file is sourced
+if ! [[ -v additionalPattern ]]; then additionalPattern="$additionalPatternDefaultArg"; fi
diff --git a/src/releasing/params/prepare-next-dev-cycle-template.default-args.source.sh b/src/releasing/params/prepare-next-dev-cycle-template.default-args.source.sh
index 42e31a9b..a29070bd 100644
--- a/src/releasing/params/prepare-next-dev-cycle-template.default-args.source.sh
+++ b/src/releasing/params/prepare-next-dev-cycle-template.default-args.source.sh
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@
 ###################################
 {
 	# shellcheck disable=SC2154   # it is assumed dir_of_tegonal_scripts is defined where this file is sourced
-	source "$dir_of_tegonal_scripts/releasing/params/update-version-common-steps.default-args.source.sh" ||
-		traceAndDie "could not source update-version-common-steps.default-args.source.sh"
+	source "$dir_of_tegonal_scripts/releasing/params/after-version-update-hook.default-args.source.sh" ||
+		traceAndDie "could not source after-version-update-hook.default-args.source.sh"
 }
 
 # Note, it is used in release-template.default-args.source.sh, if you should add default args which are only relevant
diff --git a/src/releasing/params/update-version-common-steps.default-args.source.sh b/src/releasing/params/update-version-common-steps.default-args.source.sh
index d1665541..a027c947 100644
--- a/src/releasing/params/update-version-common-steps.default-args.source.sh
+++ b/src/releasing/params/update-version-common-steps.default-args.source.sh
@@ -14,9 +14,10 @@
 # parameters (the afterVersionUpdateHook as such should not)
 #
 ###################################
+{
+	# shellcheck disable=SC2154   # it is assumed dir_of_tegonal_scripts is defined where this file is sourced
+	source "$dir_of_tegonal_scripts/releasing/params/after-version-update-hook.default-args.source.sh" ||
+		traceAndDie "could not source after-version-update-hook.default-args.source.sh"
+}
 
-# Note, it is used in prepare-next-dev-cycle-template.default-args.source.sh, if you should add default args
-# which are only relevant for update-version-common-steps then don't re-use in
-# prepare-next-dev-cycle-template.default-args.source.sh any more.
-if ! [[ -v projectsRootDir ]]; then projectsRootDir=$(realpath ".") || die "could not determine realpath of ."; fi
-if ! [[ -v additionalPattern ]]; then additionalPattern="^$"; fi
+# nothing in addition for now
diff --git a/src/releasing/prepare-files-next-dev-cycle-template.sh b/src/releasing/prepare-files-next-dev-cycle-template.sh
index 9dfada88..47a0bd44 100755
--- a/src/releasing/prepare-files-next-dev-cycle-template.sh
+++ b/src/releasing/prepare-files-next-dev-cycle-template.sh
@@ -82,6 +82,9 @@ function prepareFilesNextDevCycleTemplate() {
 	local -a prepareNextDevCycleTemplateArgs
 	addLocalVarMatchingParamNamesToArgs prepareNextDevCycleTemplateParams prepareNextDevCycleTemplateArgs
 
+	local -a afterVersionHookArgs
+	addLocalVarMatchingParamNamesToArgs afterVersionHookParams afterVersionHookArgs
+
 	# those variables are used in local functions further below which will be called from releaseTemplate.
 	# The problem: in case releaseTemplate defines a variable with the same name, then we would use those
 	# variables instead of the one we define here, hence we prefix them to avoid this problem
@@ -93,15 +96,16 @@ function prepareFilesNextDevCycleTemplate() {
 		parseArguments afterVersionHookParams "" "$TEGONAL_SCRIPTS_VERSION" "$@" || return $?
 		exitIfNotAllArgumentsSet afterVersionHookParams "" "$TEGONAL_SCRIPTS_VERSION"
 
+		local -a afterVersionHookArgs
+		addLocalVarMatchingParamNamesToArgs afterVersionHookParams afterVersionHookArgs
+
 		updateVersionScripts \
 			"$versionParamPatternLong" "$version-SNAPSHOT" \
 			"$additionalPatternParamPatternLong" "$additionalPattern" \
 			-d "$projectsRootDir/src" || return $?
 
 		executeIfFunctionNameDefined "$prepare_files_next_dev_afterVersionUpdateHook" "$afterVersionUpdateHookParamPatternLong" \
-			"$versionParamPatternLong" "$version" \
-			"$projectsRootDirParamPatternLong" "$projectsRootDir" \
-			"$additionalPatternParamPatternLong" "$additionalPattern"
+			"${afterVersionHookArgs[@]}"
 	}
 
 	prepareNextDevCycleTemplate \
diff --git a/src/releasing/prepare-next-dev-cycle-template.sh b/src/releasing/prepare-next-dev-cycle-template.sh
index 58ec81df..522e8b9e 100755
--- a/src/releasing/prepare-next-dev-cycle-template.sh
+++ b/src/releasing/prepare-next-dev-cycle-template.sh
@@ -79,23 +79,24 @@ function prepareNextDevCycleTemplate() {
 	exitIfNotAllArgumentsSet prepareNextDevCycleTemplateParams "" "$TEGONAL_SCRIPTS_VERSION"
 	exitIfArgIsNotVersion "$version" "$versionParamPatternLong"
 	exitIfArgIsNotFunction "$beforePrFn" "$beforePrFnParamPatternLong"
+	exitIfPathNamedIsOutsideOfCurrentDir "$projectsRootDir" "$projectsRootDirParamPatternLong"
 
 	exitIfGitHasChanges
 
+	local -a afterVersionHookArgs
+	addLocalVarMatchingParamNamesToArgs afterVersionHookParams afterVersionHookArgs
+
 	logInfo "prepare next dev cycle for version $version"
 
 	local -r devVersion="$version-SNAPSHOT"
 
 	updateVersionCommonSteps \
 		"$forReleaseParamPatternLong" false \
-		"$versionParamPatternLong" "$devVersion" \
-		"$projectsRootDirParamPatternLong" "$projectsRootDir" \
-		"$additionalPatternParamPatternLong" "$additionalPattern"
+		"${afterVersionHookArgs[@]}" \
+		"$versionParamPatternLong" "$devVersion"
 
 	executeIfFunctionNameDefined "$afterVersionUpdateHook" "$afterVersionUpdateHookParamPatternLong" \
-		"$versionParamPatternLong" "$version" \
-		"$projectsRootDirParamPatternLong" "$projectsRootDir" \
-		"$additionalPatternParamPatternLong" "$additionalPattern"
+		"${afterVersionHookArgs[@]}"
 
 	# check if we accidentally have broken something, run formatting or whatever is done in beforePr
 	"$beforePrFn" || return $?
diff --git a/src/releasing/release-files-template.sh b/src/releasing/release-files-template.sh
index 50dfc9dc..ecfe96c8 100755
--- a/src/releasing/release-files-template.sh
+++ b/src/releasing/release-files-template.sh
@@ -115,15 +115,16 @@ function releaseFilesTemplate() {
 		parseArguments afterVersionHookParams "" "$TEGONAL_SCRIPTS_VERSION" "$@" || return $?
 		exitIfNotAllArgumentsSet afterVersionHookParams "" "$TEGONAL_SCRIPTS_VERSION"
 
+		local -a afterVersionHookArgs
+		addLocalVarMatchingParamNamesToArgs afterVersionHookParams afterVersionHookArgs
+
 		updateVersionScripts \
 			"$versionParamPatternLong" "$version" \
 			"$additionalPatternParamPatternLong" "$additionalPattern" \
 			-d "$projectsRootDir/src" || return $?
 
 		executeIfFunctionNameDefined "$release_files_afterVersionUpdateHook" "$afterVersionUpdateHookParamPatternLong" \
-			"$versionParamPatternLong" "$version" \
-			"$projectsRootDirParamPatternLong" "$projectsRootDir" \
-			"$additionalPatternParamPatternLong" "$additionalPattern"
+			"${afterVersionHookArgs[@]}"
 	}
 
 	function releaseFilesTemplate_releaseHook() {
diff --git a/src/releasing/release-template.sh b/src/releasing/release-template.sh
index e906ac77..3b39cea3 100755
--- a/src/releasing/release-template.sh
+++ b/src/releasing/release-template.sh
@@ -102,6 +102,10 @@ function releaseTemplate() {
 	exitIfArgIsNotFunction "$releaseHook" "$releaseHookParamPatternLong"
 	exitIfArgIsNotFunction "$beforePrFn" "$beforePrFnParamPatternLong"
 	exitIfArgIsNotFunction "$prepareNextDevCycleFn" "$prepareNextDevCycleFnParamPatternLong"
+	exitIfPathNamedIsOutsideOfCurrentDir "$projectsRootDir" "$projectsRootDirParamPatternLong"
+
+	local -a afterVersionHookArgs
+	addLocalVarMatchingParamNamesToArgs afterVersionHookParams afterVersionHookArgs
 
 	preReleaseCheckGit \
 		"$versionParamPatternLong" "$version" \
@@ -112,14 +116,10 @@ function releaseTemplate() {
 
 	updateVersionCommonSteps \
 		"$forReleaseParamPatternLong" true \
-		"$versionParamPatternLong" "$version" \
-		"$projectsRootDirParamPatternLong" "$projectsRootDir" \
-		"$additionalPatternParamPatternLong" "$additionalPattern"
+		"${afterVersionHookArgs[@]}"
 
 	executeIfFunctionNameDefined "$afterVersionUpdateHook" "$afterVersionUpdateHookParamPatternLong" \
-		"$versionParamPatternLong" "$version" \
-		"$projectsRootDirParamPatternLong" "$projectsRootDir" \
-		"$additionalPatternParamPatternLong" "$additionalPattern"
+		"${afterVersionHookArgs[@]}"
 
 	# run again since we made changes
 	"$beforePrFn" || return $?
@@ -138,12 +138,11 @@ function releaseTemplate() {
 		fi
 
 		logInfo "Release completed, going to prepare next development cycle for %s by calling %s" "$nextVersion" \
-			"$prepareNextDevCycleFn $versionParamPatternLong $nextVersion $additionalPatternParamPatternLong $additionalPattern $projectsRootDirParamPatternLong $projectsRootDir $beforePrFnParamPatternLong $beforePrFn"
+			"${afterVersionHookArgs[*]} $versionParamPatternLong $nextVersion $beforePrFnParamPatternLong $beforePrFn"
 
 		"$prepareNextDevCycleFn" \
+			"${afterVersionHookArgs[@]}" \
 			"$versionParamPatternLong" "$nextVersion" \
-			"$additionalPatternParamPatternLong" "$additionalPattern" \
-			"$projectsRootDirParamPatternLong" "$projectsRootDir" \
 			"$beforePrFnParamPatternLong" "$beforePrFn" || die "could not prepare next dev cycle for version %s" "$nextVersion"
 
 		git push origin "$version" || die "could not push tag %s to origin" "$version"
diff --git a/src/releasing/update-version-README.sh b/src/releasing/update-version-README.sh
index 6994a95b..9b0b42bf 100755
--- a/src/releasing/update-version-README.sh
+++ b/src/releasing/update-version-README.sh
@@ -67,10 +67,10 @@ function updateVersionReadme() {
 
 	parseArguments params "$examples" "$TEGONAL_SCRIPTS_VERSION" "$@" || return $?
 	if ! [[ -v file ]]; then file="./README.md"; fi
-	if ! [[ -v additionalPattern ]]; then additionalPattern=""; fi
+	if ! [[ -v additionalPattern ]]; then additionalPattern="$additionalPatternDefaultArg"; fi
 	exitIfNotAllArgumentsSet params "$examples" "$TEGONAL_SCRIPTS_VERSION"
 
-	echo "set version $version for Download badges and sneak peek banner in $file"
+	logInfo "set version $version for Download badges and sneak peek banner in $file"
 
 	local -r versionWithoutLeadingV="${version:1}"
 
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ function updateVersionReadme() {
 		"$file" || returnDying "was not able to update the version in download badges and in the sneak peek banner" || return $?
 
 	if [[ -n $additionalPattern ]]; then
-		echo "also going to search for $additionalPattern and replace with \${1}$version\${2}"
+		logInfo "also going to search for $additionalPattern and replace with \${1}$version\${2}"
 		perl -0777 -i \
 			-pe "s/$additionalPattern/\${1}$version\${2}/g;" \
 			"$file" || returnDying "error during the additional replacement, see above" || return $?
diff --git a/src/releasing/update-version-common-steps.sh b/src/releasing/update-version-common-steps.sh
index d243dc6e..2220abad 100755
--- a/src/releasing/update-version-common-steps.sh
+++ b/src/releasing/update-version-common-steps.sh
@@ -75,7 +75,6 @@ function updateVersionCommonSteps() {
 	parseArguments updateVersionCommonStepsParams "" "$TEGONAL_SCRIPTS_VERSION" "$@" || return $?
 	source "$dir_of_tegonal_scripts/releasing/params/update-version-common-steps.default-args.source.sh" || traceAndDie "could not source update-version-common-steps.default-args.source.sh"
 	exitIfNotAllArgumentsSet updateVersionCommonStepsParams "" "$TEGONAL_SCRIPTS_VERSION"
-
 	exitIfArgIsNotBoolean "$forRelease" "$forReleaseParamPatternLong"
 
 	local -r projectsScriptsDir="$projectsRootDir/scripts"
@@ -108,7 +107,10 @@ function updateVersionCommonSteps() {
 
 		local -r templateDir="$projectsRootDir/./.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE"
 		if [[ -d "$templateDir" ]]; then
-			updateVersionIssueTemplates "$versionParamPatternLong" "$version" -d "$templateDir"
+			updateVersionIssueTemplates \
+				"$versionParamPatternLong" "$version" \
+				"$additionalPatternParamPatternLong" "$additionalPattern" \
+				-d "$templateDir" || return $?
 		fi
 	fi
 }
diff --git a/src/releasing/update-version-issue-templates.sh b/src/releasing/update-version-issue-templates.sh
index 768685cb..732f30e0 100755
--- a/src/releasing/update-version-issue-templates.sh
+++ b/src/releasing/update-version-issue-templates.sh
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ function updateVersionIssueTemplates() {
 	if ! [[ -v directory ]]; then directory="./.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE"; fi
 	if ! [[ -v additionalPattern ]]; then additionalPattern=""; fi
 	exitIfNotAllArgumentsSet params "$examples" "$TEGONAL_SCRIPTS_VERSION"
+	exitIfArgIsNotVersion "$version" "$versionParamPatternLong"
 
 	local where
 	if [[ -f $directory ]]; then
@@ -81,17 +82,17 @@ function updateVersionIssueTemplates() {
 		echo "also going to search for $additionalPattern and replace with \${1}$version\${2}"
 	fi
 
-	local script
+	local yaml
 	find "$directory" '(' -name "*.yml" -o -name "*.yaml" ')' -print0 |
-		while read -r -d $'\0' script; do
+		while read -r -d $'\0' yaml; do
 			perl -0777 -i \
 				-pe "s/(label:\s*Affected Version[\S\s]+placeholder:\s*)\"[^\"]+\"/\${1}\"$version\"/g;" \
-				"$script" || returnDying "was not able to update the version in the issue templates" || return $?
+				"$yaml" || returnDying "was not able to update the version in the issue templates" || return $?
 
 			if [[ -n $additionalPattern ]]; then
 				perl -0777 -i \
 					-pe "s/$additionalPattern/\${1}$version\${2}/g;" \
-					"$script" || returnDying "error during the additional replacement, see above" || return $?
+					"$yaml" || returnDying "error during the additional replacement, see above" || return $?
 			fi
 		done
 }
diff --git a/src/releasing/update-version-scripts.sh b/src/releasing/update-version-scripts.sh
index 3961ed41..b6bd4400 100755
--- a/src/releasing/update-version-scripts.sh
+++ b/src/releasing/update-version-scripts.sh
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ function updateVersionScripts() {
 
 	parseArguments params "$examples" "$TEGONAL_SCRIPTS_VERSION" "$@" || return $?
 	if ! [[ -v directory ]]; then directory="./src"; fi
-	if ! [[ -v additionalPattern ]]; then additionalPattern=""; fi
+	if ! [[ -v additionalPattern ]]; then additionalPattern="$additionalPatternDefaultArg"; fi
 	exitIfNotAllArgumentsSet params "$examples" "$TEGONAL_SCRIPTS_VERSION"
 
 	local where
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ function updateVersionScripts() {
 	else
 		where="directory $directory (and subdirectories)"
 	fi
-	echo "set version $version in bash headers in $where"
+	logInfo "set version $version in bash headers in $where"
 	if [[ -n $additionalPattern ]]; then
 		echo "also going to search for $additionalPattern and replace with \${1}$version\${2}"
 	fi
diff --git a/src/utility/checks.sh b/src/utility/checks.sh
index 933431f5..a3d59f16 100644
--- a/src/utility/checks.sh
+++ b/src/utility/checks.sh
@@ -359,6 +359,15 @@ function exitIfPathNamedIsOutsideOf() {
 	checkPathNamedIsInsideOf "$@" || exit $?
 }
 
+function exitIfPathNamedIsOutsideOfCurrentDir() {
+	if ! [[ -v currentDir ]]; then
+		local currentDir
+		currentDir=$(pwd) || die "could not determine currentDir, maybe it does not exist anymore?"
+		local -r currentDir
+	fi
+	checkPathNamedIsInsideOf "$@" "$currentDir" || exit $?
+}
+
 getCallerFuncNameButIgnore() {
 	local -a skipNames=("$@")
 	# 0 is getCallerFuncNameButIgnore itself, 1 is its caller and we want to get the caller of the caller