diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index d9b3259..9422892 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -232,3 +232,14 @@ jobs:
           timeout 180 bash -c 'while ! curl -s -f http://localhost:3000/health > /dev/null; do echo "Waiting..."; sleep 5; done'
           echo "Functional test passed successfully!"
 
+      - name: Test Backup Script
+        run: |
+          echo "Executing backup script..."
+          ./scripts/backup-ai-stack.sh /tmp/test-backups
+          
+          echo "Verifying backup archives..."
+          if ! ls /tmp/test-backups/*/*.tar > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+            echo "❌ Backup archives not found!"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "✅ Backup archives successfully verified."
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9871c03..d644d1a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,13 @@ The format is based on
 [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/), and this project
 adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [0.5.0-rc4] - 2026-04-21
+
+### Added
+
+- **CI/CD**: Added an automated test in the CI smoke test workflow to validate
+  the `backup-ai-stack.sh` script execution and verify archive creation.
+
 ## [0.5.0-rc3] - 2026-04-21
 
 ### Security
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 4523fa9..80eeb8d 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # Makefile for podman-ai-stack
 
 NAME := podman-ai-stack
-VERSION := 0.5.0-rc3
+VERSION := 0.5.0-rc4
 RPM_VERSION := $(subst -,~,$(VERSION))
 BUILD_DIR := $(CURDIR)/rpmbuild
 RPM_DIR := $(BUILD_DIR)/RPMS/noarch