diff --git a/.mokogitea/workflows/auto-release.yml b/.mokogitea/workflows/auto-release.yml
index f2063cbd..a7563e01 100644
--- a/.mokogitea/workflows/auto-release.yml
+++ b/.mokogitea/workflows/auto-release.yml
@@ -380,13 +380,10 @@ jobs:
           import sys
           version, date = sys.argv[1], sys.argv[2]
           content = open('CHANGELOG.md').read()
-          marker = f'## [{version}]'
-          # Idempotent: only promote when this version header isn't already present,
-          # otherwise re-runs (or same-version builds) create empty duplicate headers.
-          if marker not in content:
-              new = f'## [Unreleased]\n\n{marker} --- {date}'
-              content = content.replace('## [Unreleased]', new, 1)
-              open('CHANGELOG.md', 'w').write(content)
+          old = '## [Unreleased]'
+          new = f'## [Unreleased]\n\n## [{version}] --- {date}'
+          content = content if ('## [' + version + ']') in content else content.replace(old, new, 1)
+          open('CHANGELOG.md', 'w').write(content)
           " "$VERSION" "$DATE"
             git add CHANGELOG.md
             git commit -m "chore: promote changelog [Unreleased] → [${VERSION}]" || true