diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
index 36f478e..c28c669 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
@@ -34,12 +34,16 @@ jobs:
           TAG: ${{ github.ref_name }}
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
-          # Create the release for the pushed tag.
+          # Create the release for the pushed tag. The annotated tag's message
+          # becomes the release description (empty for lightweight tags).
+          body=$(git tag -l --format='%(contents)' "${TAG}")
+          payload=$(jq -n --arg tag "${TAG}" --arg body "${body}" \
+            '{tag_name: $tag, name: $tag, body: $body}')
           id=$(curl -fsSL -X POST \
             -H "Authorization: token ${TOKEN}" \
             -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
             "${SERVER}/api/v1/repos/${REPO}/releases" \
-            -d "{\"tag_name\":\"${TAG}\",\"name\":\"${TAG}\"}" | jq -r '.id')
+            -d "${payload}" | jq -r '.id')
           echo "release id: ${id}"
           # Upload every built asset (binaries + checksums.txt).
           for f in dist/*; do