diff --git a/doc/dev/releases/backport.sh b/doc/dev/releases/backport.sh
index c044350da8c..12f5ed5d3f5 100755
--- a/doc/dev/releases/backport.sh
+++ b/doc/dev/releases/backport.sh
@@ -7,19 +7,27 @@
 #
 # Usage:
 #
-#  $ VERSION=X.Y.Z PR=<pr-number> ./backport.sh
+#  $ VERSION=X.Y.Z PR=<pr-number> [PR_ONLY] [DUNE_REMOTE] ./backport.sh
 #
 # where
 #
 # - X.Y.Z is the version of Dune being released
 # - <pr-number> is the number of a PR merged into main that needs backporting
+# - The optional PR_ONLY, if `true`, will open a PR from the current branch,
+#   without preparing the backport cherry pick
+# - The optional DUNE_REMOTE can be used to set name of the git remote to use as
+#   the bases for created PRs. It defaults to 'git config remote.pushdefault',
+#   if set, or finally to 'origin', if not.
+#
+# E.g.,
+#
+#  $ VERSION=3.22.1 PR=1234 ./backport.sh
 #
 # If you have had to manually resolve merge conflicts from the cherry-pick, then
-# you can rerun the script from the created backport branch with PR_ONLY=true, open
-# the PR into the release branch. E.g.,
+# you can rerun the script from the created backport branch with PR_ONLY=true,
+# open the PR into the release branch. E.g.,
 #
 #  $ PR_ONLY=true VERSION=X.Y.Z PR=<pr-number> ./backport.sh
-#
 
 set -xe
 set -o pipefail
@@ -32,6 +40,10 @@ command -v gh >/dev/null 2>&1 || (echo >&2 "script requires gh"; exit 1)
 [ ! -z "${PR}" ] || (echo >&2 "error: variable 'PR' is not set"; exit 1)
 [ ! -z "${VERSION}" ] || (echo >&2 "error: variable 'VERSION' is not set"; exit 1)
 PR_ONLY=${PR_ONLY:-false}
+# Get the remote configured by envvar, or via the git config remote.pushDefault,
+DUNE_REMOTE=${DUNE_REMOTE:-$(git config remote.pushdefault || echo "")}
+# Finally fallback to 'origin' if the remote isn't configured
+DUNE_REMOTE=${DUNE_REMOTE:-"origin"}
 
 # All variables should be set from this point on
 set -u
@@ -41,8 +53,9 @@ set -u
 rc_branch="${VERSION}-rc"
 backport_branch="backport-${PR}"
 
-configured_remote=$(git config remote.pushdefault || echo "")
-remote=${configured_remote:-"origin"}
+# The github owner of the repo
+# Required to avoid a manual prompt (see https://github.com/cli/cli/issues/5009)
+github_owner=$(git remote get-url "${DUNE_REMOTE}" | sed -E 's#.*github\.com[:/]([^/]+).*#\1#')
 
 if [ "${PR_ONLY}" == false ]
 then
@@ -58,12 +71,13 @@ then
     fi
 
     git checkout -b "${backport_branch}"
-    git push -u "${remote}" HEAD
+    git push -u "${DUNE_REMOTE}" HEAD
     git cherry-pick --mainline 1 --signoff -x "${commit}"
 fi
 
 gh pr create \
     --repo ocaml/dune \
     --base "${rc_branch}" \
+    --head "${github_owner}:${rc_branch}" \
     --title "[${VERSION}] backport #${PR}" \
     --body "Backport #${PR} onto ${rc_branch}"