diff --git a/make_release/notes/generate.nu b/make_release/notes/generate.nu
index ae1e35e1..a77a7b97 100644
--- a/make_release/notes/generate.nu
+++ b/make_release/notes/generate.nu
@@ -96,10 +96,9 @@ export def extract-notes []: string -> string {
     # this should already have been checked
     | if ($in | is-empty) { assert false } else {}
     | skip 1 # remove header
-    # extract until next heading
-    | take until {
-          $in starts-with "# " or $in starts-with "## " or $in starts-with "---"
-      }
+    # extract until end of summary
+    | reduce -f {code: false, done: false, out: []} (extract_until_end)
+    | get out
     | str join (char nl)
     # remove HTML comments
     | str replace -amr '<!--\O*?-->' ''
@@ -151,12 +150,12 @@ export def generate-section []: record<section: string, prs: table> -> string {
     $body ++= $multiline.notes
 
     # Add single-line summaries
-    if ($multiline | is-not-empty) {
+    if ($multiline | is-not-empty) and ($bullet | is-not-empty) {
         $body ++= [$"### ($section.h3)"]
     }
     $body ++= $bullet | each {|pr| "* " ++ $pr.notes ++ $" \(($pr | pr-link)\)" }
 
-    $body | str join (char nl)
+    $body | str join $"(char nl)(char nl)"
 }
 
 # Generate the "Hall of Fame" section of the release notes.
@@ -178,6 +177,31 @@ export def generate-full-changelog [version: string]: nothing -> string {
     | pr-table
 }
 
+# Create closure for `reduce` to extract the whole release notes summary.
+def extract_until_end []: nothing -> closure {
+    let terminators = ["# " "## " "---"]
+    {|line: string, state: record|
+        mut state = $state
+
+        if $state.done { return $state }
+
+        # check if we're entering/exiting a code block
+        # this might be kind of brittle
+        if $line has "```" {
+            $state.code = not $state.code
+        }
+
+        let found_terminator = $terminators | any { $line starts-with $in }
+        if $found_terminator and not $state.code {
+            $state.done = true
+            return $state
+        }
+
+        $state.out ++= [$line]
+        $state
+    }
+}
+
 # Get section labels which don't have a corresponding heading (i.e., don't appear in Changes section)
 def labels-without-heading [] {
     $SECTIONS | where h2 == null | get label
diff --git a/make_release/notes/tools.nu b/make_release/notes/tools.nu
index 65848aa8..cf8e613e 100644
--- a/make_release/notes/tools.nu
+++ b/make_release/notes/tools.nu
@@ -45,11 +45,16 @@ def query-prs [
 
     let query = $query_parts | str join ' '
 
-    (gh --repo $repo pr list --state merged
-        --limit (inf | into int)
-        --json author,title,number,mergedAt,url,body,labels
-        --search $query)
-    | from json
+    let results = (
+        gh --repo $repo pr list --state merged
+            --limit (inf | into int)
+            --json author,title,number,mergedAt,url,body,labels
+            --search $query
+        | from json
+    )
+
+    assert ($results | is-not-empty) "Query returned no results"
+    $results
 }
 
 # Generate the release notes for the specified version.
@@ -148,11 +153,9 @@ export def write-toc [file: path] {
         | each {|header|
             let indent = '- ' | fill -w ($header.level * 2) -a right
 
-            let text = $header.line | str trim -l -c '#' | str trim -l
-            let text = if $text ends-with $toc {
-                $text | str substring ..<(-1 * ($toc | str length)) | str trim -r
-            } else {
-                $text
+            mut text = $header.line | str trim -l -c '#' | str trim -l
+            if $text ends-with $toc {
+                $text = $text | str substring ..<(-1 * ($toc | str length)) | str trim -r
             }
 
             let link = (
@@ -161,6 +164,22 @@ export def write-toc [file: path] {
                 | str kebab-case
             )
 
+            # remove PR link from header, if applicable
+            let regex = r#'(?x)         # verbose mode
+                       (?<text>.+?) # the actual header text
+                       \s+
+                       \(           # start PR link
+                         \[\#\d+\]  #   PR number component
+                         (?:        #   optional non-capturing group
+                           \(.+?\)  #     link to PR
+                         )?         #   end group
+                       \)
+            '#
+            let prlink = $text | parse -r $regex
+            if ($prlink | is-not-empty) {
+                $text = $prlink.0.text
+            }
+
             $"($indent)[_($text)_]\(#($link)-toc\)"
         }
     )