diff --git a/src/citra_qt/citra_qt.cpp b/src/citra_qt/citra_qt.cpp
index 03dfcce6c..84c074dec 100644
--- a/src/citra_qt/citra_qt.cpp
+++ b/src/citra_qt/citra_qt.cpp
@@ -394,9 +394,12 @@ GMainWindow::GMainWindow(Core::System& system_)
 #ifdef ENABLE_QT_UPDATE_CHECKER
     if (UISettings::values.check_for_update_on_start) {
         update_future = QtConcurrent::run([]() -> QString {
-            const std::optional<std::string> latest_release = UpdateChecker::CheckForUpdate();
-            if (latest_release && latest_release.value() != Common::g_build_fullname) {
-                return QString::fromStdString(latest_release.value());
+            const bool is_prerelease = // TODO: This can be done better -OS
+                (strstr(Common::g_build_fullname, "rc") != NULL);
+            const std::optional<std::string> latest_release_tag =
+                UpdateChecker::GetLatestRelease(is_prerelease);
+            if (latest_release_tag && latest_release_tag.value() != Common::g_build_fullname) {
+                return QString::fromStdString(latest_release_tag.value());
             }
             return QString{};
         });
diff --git a/src/citra_qt/update_checker.cpp b/src/citra_qt/update_checker.cpp
index a8a3955d7..b4d34344c 100644
--- a/src/citra_qt/update_checker.cpp
+++ b/src/citra_qt/update_checker.cpp
@@ -9,47 +9,74 @@
 #include "common/logging/log.h"
 #include "update_checker.h"
 
-std::optional<std::string> UpdateChecker::CheckForUpdate() {
-    constexpr auto UPDATE_CHECK_URL = "http://api.github.com";
-    constexpr auto UPDATE_CHECK_PATH = "/repos/azahar-emu/azahar/releases/latest";
-    constexpr std::size_t UPDATE_CHECK_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 15;
+std::optional<std::string> GetResponse(std::string url, std::string path) {
+    constexpr std::size_t timeout_seconds = 15;
 
-    std::unique_ptr<httplib::Client> client = std::make_unique<httplib::Client>(UPDATE_CHECK_URL);
-    client->set_connection_timeout(UPDATE_CHECK_TIMEOUT_SECONDS);
-    client->set_read_timeout(UPDATE_CHECK_TIMEOUT_SECONDS);
-    client->set_write_timeout(UPDATE_CHECK_TIMEOUT_SECONDS);
+    std::unique_ptr<httplib::Client> client = std::make_unique<httplib::Client>(url);
+    client->set_connection_timeout(timeout_seconds);
+    client->set_read_timeout(timeout_seconds);
+    client->set_write_timeout(timeout_seconds);
 
     if (client == nullptr) {
-        LOG_ERROR(Frontend, "Invalid URL {}{}", UPDATE_CHECK_URL, UPDATE_CHECK_PATH);
+        LOG_ERROR(Frontend, "Invalid URL {}{}", url, path);
         return {};
     }
 
     httplib::Request request{
         .method = "GET",
-        .path = UPDATE_CHECK_PATH,
+        .path = path,
     };
 
     client->set_follow_location(true);
     const auto result = client->send(request);
     if (!result) {
-        LOG_ERROR(Frontend, "GET to {}{} returned null", UPDATE_CHECK_URL, UPDATE_CHECK_PATH);
+        LOG_ERROR(Frontend, "GET to {}{} returned null", url, path);
         return {};
     }
 
     const auto& response = result.value();
     if (response.status >= 400) {
-        LOG_ERROR(Frontend, "GET to {}{} returned error status code: {}", UPDATE_CHECK_URL,
-                  UPDATE_CHECK_PATH, response.status);
+        LOG_ERROR(Frontend, "GET to {}{} returned error status code: {}", url, path,
+                  response.status);
         return {};
     }
     if (!response.headers.contains("content-type")) {
-        LOG_ERROR(Frontend, "GET to {}{} returned no content", UPDATE_CHECK_URL, UPDATE_CHECK_PATH);
+        LOG_ERROR(Frontend, "GET to {}{} returned no content", url, path);
         return {};
     }
 
+    return response.body;
+}
+
+std::optional<std::string> UpdateChecker::GetLatestRelease(bool include_prereleases) {
+    constexpr auto update_check_url = "http://api.github.com";
+    std::string update_check_path = "/repos/azahar-emu/azahar/releases";
     try {
-        return nlohmann::json::parse(response.body).at("tag_name");
+        if (include_prereleases) {
+            // This can return either a prerelease or a normal release, whichever is more recent
+            const auto response = GetResponse(update_check_url, update_check_path);
+            if (!response)
+                return {};
+            return nlohmann::json::parse(response.value()).at(0).at("tag_name");
+        } else {
+            update_check_path += "/latest";
+            const auto response = GetResponse(update_check_url, update_check_path);
+            if (!response)
+                return {};
+            return nlohmann::json::parse(response.value()).at("tag_name");
+        }
+
     } catch (nlohmann::detail::out_of_range&) {
+        LOG_ERROR(Frontend,
+                  "Parsing JSON response from {}{} failed during update check: "
+                  "nlohmann::detail::out_of_range",
+                  update_check_url, update_check_path);
+        return {};
+    } catch (nlohmann::detail::type_error&) {
+        LOG_ERROR(Frontend,
+                  "Parsing JSON response from {}{} failed during update check: "
+                  "nlohmann::detail::type_error",
+                  update_check_url, update_check_path);
         return {};
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/citra_qt/update_checker.h b/src/citra_qt/update_checker.h
index b416503e7..843b5a1cb 100644
--- a/src/citra_qt/update_checker.h
+++ b/src/citra_qt/update_checker.h
@@ -8,5 +8,5 @@
 #include <string>
 
 namespace UpdateChecker {
-std::optional<std::string> CheckForUpdate();
+std::optional<std::string> GetLatestRelease(bool);
 }