diff --git a/.changeset/fuzzy-ducks-speak.md b/.changeset/fuzzy-ducks-speak.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..30e23c7ca5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/fuzzy-ducks-speak.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab': patch
+---
+
+The `description` property in `publish:gitlab:merge-request` has been made optional again to comply with the GitLab API.
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/report.api.md b/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/report.api.md
index 07e3ed87b4..1c4ce80995 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/report.api.md
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/report.api.md
@@ -218,8 +218,8 @@ export const createPublishGitlabMergeRequestAction: (options: {
   {
     repoUrl: string;
     title: string;
-    description: string;
     branchName: string;
+    description?: string | undefined;
     targetBranchName?: string | undefined;
     sourcePath?: string | undefined;
     targetPath?: string | undefined;
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabMergeRequest.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabMergeRequest.ts
index a9ee80a30f..66c72b4c46 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabMergeRequest.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabMergeRequest.ts
@@ -157,7 +157,10 @@ Accepts the format \`gitlab.com?repo=project_name&owner=group_name\` where \
 \`project_name\` is the repository name and \`group_name\` is a group or username`),
         title: z => z.string().describe('The name for the merge request'),
         description: z =>
-          z.string().describe('The description of the merge request'),
+          z
+            .string()
+            .optional()
+            .describe('The description of the merge request'),
         branchName: z =>
           z.string().describe('The source branch name of the merge request'),
         targetBranchName: z =>