diff --git a/.cliff.toml b/.cliff.toml
index ae70028..702629f 100644
--- a/.cliff.toml
+++ b/.cliff.toml
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ body = """
 ### People who contributed to this release
   {% endif %}
   {%- for contributor in github.contributors | filter(attribute="username") | sort(attribute="username") %}
-    {%- if contributor.username != "dependabot[bot]" %}
+    {%- if contributor.username != "dependabot[bot]" and contributor.username != "github-actions[bot]" %}
 * [@{{ contributor.username }}](https://github.com/{{ contributor.username }})
     {%- endif %}
   {%- endfor %}
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ body = """
   {%- endif %}
 
   {%- for contributor in github.contributors | filter(attribute="is_first_time", value=true) %}
-    {%- if contributor.username != "dependabot[bot]" %}
+    {%- if contributor.username != "dependabot[bot]" and contributor.username != "github-actions[bot]" %}
 * @{{ contributor.username }} made their first contribution
       {%- if contributor.pr_number %}
   in [#{{ contributor.pr_number }}]({{ self::remote_url() }}/pull/{{ contributor.pr_number }}) \
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 78e3b1a..833ef93 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -25,6 +25,20 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/checkout@08c6903cd8c0fde910a37f88322edcfb5dd907a8 # v5.0.0
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
+      -
+        name: Extract tag message
+        id: get_message
+        # git-cliff may or may not pick the current tag message, difficult to tell when
+        # this works. We extract the tag message explicitly.
+        run: |
+          MESSAGE=$(git tag -l '${{ github.ref_name }}' --format='%(contents:subject)
+
+          %(contents:body)
+          ')
+          export MESSAGE
+          echo "message<<EOF" >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"
+          printenv MESSAGE >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"
+          echo 'EOF' >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"
       -
         name: Generate release notes
         id: notes
@@ -36,6 +50,7 @@ jobs:
           config: '.cliff.toml'
           args: >-
             --current
+            --with-tag-message '${{ steps.get_message.outputs.message }}'
       -
         name: Create github release
         uses: softprops/action-gh-release@5be0e66d93ac7ed76da52eca8bb058f665c3a5fe # v2.4.2