diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-tag.yml b/.github/workflows/release-tag.yml
index 2bd2bf2..e49d1cd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-tag.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-tag.yml
@@ -39,6 +39,13 @@ on:
         description: Create the GitHub release of the tag (generated notes) after the tag.
         type: boolean
         default: false
+      release-notes:
+        description: >-
+          With github-release: the Markdown file that is the release's text, `{version}` standing for
+          the version without the tag prefix (e.g. release-notes/{version}.md); the file must exist.
+          Empty = notes generated from the merged pull requests.
+        type: string
+        default: ""
       harness-ref:
         description: Ref of IronFlock/workflows the harness scripts are taken from.
         type: string
@@ -135,9 +142,18 @@ jobs:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ steps.app.outputs.token }}
           REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
           TAG: ${{ steps.version.outputs.tag }}
+          TAG_PREFIX: ${{ inputs.tag-prefix }}
+          NOTES: ${{ inputs.release-notes }}
         run: |
           if gh release view "$TAG" --repo "$REPO" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             echo "the GitHub release $TAG exists"
+          elif [ -n "$NOTES" ]; then
+            notes=${NOTES//"{version}"/${TAG#"$TAG_PREFIX"}}
+            if [ ! -f "$notes" ]; then
+              echo "::error::$TAG has no release notes: $notes is missing"
+              exit 1
+            fi
+            gh release create "$TAG" --repo "$REPO" --verify-tag --title "$TAG" --notes-file "$notes"
           else
             gh release create "$TAG" --repo "$REPO" --verify-tag --title "$TAG" --generate-notes
           fi
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index efb566c..688f68e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -154,7 +154,10 @@ released commit (never a force push), for a hosting service that deploys from
 a branch: only release merges reach it. Protect that branch with a ruleset
 whose only bypass actor is the release App.
 With `github-release: true` it also creates the GitHub release of the tag
-(generated notes), with the same token, so callers need no write rights. Both
+(generated notes), with the same token, so callers need no write rights.
+`release-notes` names a Markdown file in the repository to use as the
+release's text instead (`{version}` stands for the version, e.g.
+`release-notes/{version}.md`); the step fails when that file is missing. Both
 steps catch up on a re-run that finds the tag already set.
 
 ## Pull requests from a laptop