diff --git a/.github/workflows/master.yml b/.github/workflows/master.yml
index e9f5e602a5..7c28bcefe6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/master.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/master.yml
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ jobs:
   # We can't re-use the output from the above step, but we'll have a guaranteed node_modules cache and
   # only run the build steps that are necessary for publishing
   release:
-    if: ${{ endsWith(github.event.head_commit.message, 'from backstage/changeset-release/master\n\nVersion Packages') }}
+    if: github.event.commits[0].author.username == 'backstage-service' && contains(github.event.head_commit.message, 'from backstage/changeset-release/master')
     needs: build
 
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest