diff --git a/packages/node/src/sdk.ts b/packages/node/src/sdk.ts
index 9aa7c2f60858..e702506fb892 100644
--- a/packages/node/src/sdk.ts
+++ b/packages/node/src/sdk.ts
@@ -93,14 +93,9 @@ export function init(options: NodeOptions = {}): void {
   }
 
   if (options.release === undefined) {
-    const global = getGlobalObject<Window>();
-    // Prefer env var over global
-    if (process.env.SENTRY_RELEASE) {
-      options.release = process.env.SENTRY_RELEASE;
-    }
-    // This supports the variable that sentry-webpack-plugin injects
-    else if (global.SENTRY_RELEASE && global.SENTRY_RELEASE.id) {
-      options.release = global.SENTRY_RELEASE.id;
+    const detectedRelease = getSentryRelease();
+    if (detectedRelease !== undefined) {
+      options.release = detectedRelease;
     }
   }
 
@@ -152,3 +147,32 @@ export async function close(timeout?: number): Promise<boolean> {
   }
   return Promise.reject(false);
 }
+
+/**
+ * A function that returns a Sentry release string dynamically from env variables
+ */
+function getSentryRelease(): string | undefined {
+  // Always read first as Sentry takes this as precedence
+  if (process.env.SENTRY_RELEASE) {
+    return process.env.SENTRY_RELEASE;
+  }
+
+  // This supports the variable that sentry-webpack-plugin injects
+  const global = getGlobalObject();
+  if (global.SENTRY_RELEASE && global.SENTRY_RELEASE.id) {
+    return global.SENTRY_RELEASE.id;
+  }
+
+  return (
+    // GitHub Actions - https://help.github.com/en/actions/configuring-and-managing-workflows/using-environment-variables#default-environment-variables
+    process.env.GITHUB_SHA ||
+    // Netlify - https://docs.netlify.com/configure-builds/environment-variables/#build-metadata
+    process.env.COMMIT_REF ||
+    // Vercel - https://vercel.com/docs/v2/build-step#system-environment-variables
+    process.env.VERCEL_GIT_COMMIT_SHA ||
+    // Zeit (now known as Vercel)
+    process.env.ZEIT_GITHUB_COMMIT_SHA ||
+    process.env.ZEIT_GITLAB_COMMIT_SHA ||
+    process.env.ZEIT_BITBUCKET_COMMIT_SHA
+  );
+}
diff --git a/packages/node/test/index.test.ts b/packages/node/test/index.test.ts
index 1d4efc8f0dfb..1f4ddff69268 100644
--- a/packages/node/test/index.test.ts
+++ b/packages/node/test/index.test.ts
@@ -278,11 +278,6 @@ describe('SentryNode initialization', () => {
     // Unsure if this is needed under jest.
     global.SENTRY_RELEASE = undefined;
   });
-  test('initialization proceeds as normal if global.SENTRY_RELEASE is not set', () => {
-    // This is mostly a happy-path test to ensure that the initialization doesn't throw an error.
-    init({ dsn });
-    expect(global.__SENTRY__.hub._stack[0].client.getOptions().release).toBeUndefined();
-  });
 
   describe('SDK metadata', () => {
     it('should set SDK data when Sentry.init() is called', () => {