diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 39f9124..bdf6e8e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0 # Full history for changelog generation
+          token: ${{ secrets.GH_PAT }}
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
         with:
           node-version: '22'
@@ -23,4 +24,4 @@ jobs:
       - run: npm ci
       - run: npx semantic-release
         env:
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GH_PAT || secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GH_PAT }}