diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-build.yml b/.github/workflows/release-build.yml
index 0cc21f08..afa93e2b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-build.yml
@@ -81,8 +81,10 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Set up regions matrix
         id: set-matrix
+        env:
+          AWS_REGIONS: ${{ github.event.inputs.aws_region }}
         run: |
-          IFS=',' read -ra REGIONS <<< "${{ github.event.inputs.aws_region }}"
+          IFS=',' read -ra REGIONS <<< "$AWS_REGIONS"
           MATRIX="["
           for region in "${REGIONS[@]}"; do
             trimmed_region=$(echo "$region" | xargs)
@@ -341,6 +343,7 @@ jobs:
         id: create_release
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          VERSION: ${{ github.event.inputs.version }}
         run: |
           # Generate dependency versions from package.json
           DEPS=$(node -e "
@@ -351,19 +354,39 @@ jobs:
             console.log(deps);
           ")
 
+          # Extract CHANGELOG entries for this version
+          CHANGELOG_ENTRIES=$(python3 -c "
+          import re, os
+          version = os.environ['VERSION']
+          with open('CHANGELOG.md', 'r') as f:
+              content = f.read()
+          version_pattern = rf'## v{re.escape(version)}.*?\n(.*?)(?=\n## |\Z)'
+          version_match = re.search(version_pattern, content, re.DOTALL)
+          if version_match:
+              entries = version_match.group(1).strip()
+              if entries:
+                  print(entries)
+          ")
+
           # Create release notes
           cat > release_notes.md << EOF
-          This release contains the following upstream components:
+          $(if [ -n "$CHANGELOG_ENTRIES" ]; then echo "## What's Changed"; echo "$CHANGELOG_ENTRIES"; echo ""; fi)
+
+          ## Upstream Components
 
           $DEPS
 
-          This release also publishes to public ECR and NPM.
-          * See ADOT node auto-instrumentation Docker image v${{ github.event.inputs.version }} in our public ECR repository:
+          ## Release Artifacts
+
+          This release publishes to public ECR and NPM.
+          * See ADOT node auto-instrumentation Docker image v$VERSION in our public ECR repository:
           https://gallery.ecr.aws/aws-observability/adot-autoinstrumentation-node
-          * See version ${{ github.event.inputs.version }} in our NPM repository:
+          * See version $VERSION in our NPM repository:
           https://www.npmjs.com/package/@aws/aws-distro-opentelemetry-node-autoinstrumentation
 
-          This release also includes the AWS OpenTelemetry Lambda Layer for JavaScript version ${{ github.event.inputs.version }}-$(echo $GITHUB_SHA | cut -c1-7).
+          ## Lambda Layer
+
+          This release includes the AWS OpenTelemetry Lambda Layer for JavaScript version $VERSION-$(echo $GITHUB_SHA | cut -c1-7).
 
           Lambda Layer ARNs:
           ${{ needs.generate-lambda-release-note.outputs.layer-note }}
@@ -373,10 +396,10 @@ jobs:
           shasum -a 256 layer.zip > layer.zip.sha256
 
           gh release create --target "$GITHUB_REF_NAME" \
-             --title "Release v${{ github.event.inputs.version }}" \
+             --title "Release v$VERSION" \
              --notes-file release_notes.md \
              --draft \
-             "v${{ github.event.inputs.version }}" \
+             "v$VERSION" \
              ${{ env.ARTIFACT_NAME }} \
              ${{ env.ARTIFACT_NAME }}.sha256 \
              layer.zip \