diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 623febe..c38c280 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -1,41 +1,13 @@
 name: Release
 
 on:
-  workflow_dispatch:
+  push:
+    tags:
+      - "v*"
 
 jobs:
-  release:
-    name: Semantic Release
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    permissions:
-      contents: write
-      id-token: write
-
-    outputs:
-      released: ${{ steps.release.outputs.released }}
-      tag: ${{ steps.release.outputs.tag }}
-
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          fetch-depth: 0
-          token: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_TOKEN }}
-
-      - name: Set up Python
-        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
-        with:
-          python-version: "3.13"
-
-      - name: Python Semantic Release
-        id: release
-        uses: python-semantic-release/python-semantic-release@v9
-        with:
-          github_token: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_TOKEN }}
-
   publish:
     name: Publish to PyPI
-    needs: release
-    if: needs.release.outputs.released == 'true'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     environment: pypi
     permissions:
@@ -43,15 +15,21 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          ref: ${{ needs.release.outputs.tag }}
-          fetch-depth: 0
 
       - name: Set up Python
         uses: actions/setup-python@v5
         with:
           python-version: "3.13"
 
+      - name: Verify tag matches pyproject.toml version
+        run: |
+          TAG_VERSION="${GITHUB_REF_NAME#v}"
+          PROJECT_VERSION="$(python -c 'import tomllib; print(tomllib.load(open("pyproject.toml", "rb"))["project"]["version"])')"
+          if [ "$TAG_VERSION" != "$PROJECT_VERSION" ]; then
+            echo "Tag $GITHUB_REF_NAME does not match pyproject.toml version $PROJECT_VERSION" >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
       - name: Build package
         run: |
           pip install build
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f40a193..39817bc 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,14 @@
-# CHANGELOG
+# Changelog
 
+All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
+
+The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/),
+and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
+
+Entries below `v1.2.0` were generated by semantic-release; the project has
+since switched to hand-written releases.
+
+## [Unreleased]
 
 ## v1.2.0 (2026-08-15)
 
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index e248b49..5006480 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -70,6 +70,18 @@ DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE=settings_dev django-admin runserver
 
 ---
 
+## Release process (maintainers)
+
+Releases are fully manual — merging to `master` never triggers a release.
+
+1. Bump the version in `pyproject.toml` (`project.version`) and `django_sysconfig/__init__.py` (`__version__`)
+2. Move the `## [Unreleased]` entries in `CHANGELOG.md` under a new `## [X.Y.Z] - YYYY-MM-DD` heading, grouped into `Added`/`Changed`/`Deprecated`/`Removed`/`Fixed`/`Security` per [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/)
+3. Commit: `chore(release): X.Y.Z`
+4. Tag: `git tag vX.Y.Z` and `git push origin vX.Y.Z`
+5. The tag push triggers the `Release` workflow, which builds and publishes to PyPI
+
+---
+
 ## Reporting bugs
 
 Open an issue on [GitHub Issues](https://github.com/krishnamodepalli/django-sysconfig/issues) with:
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 94c87e4..4e70c26 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -86,24 +86,3 @@ target-version = "py310"
 [tool.ruff.lint]
 select = ["E", "W", "F", "I", "B", "C4", "UP"]
 ignore = ["E501", "B008", "C901"]
-
-[tool.semantic_release]
-version_toml = ["pyproject.toml:project.version"]
-version_variables = [
-    "django_sysconfig/__init__.py:__version__"
-]
-branch = "master"
-commit_message = "chore(release): {version}"
-tag_format = "v{version}"
-
-[tool.semantic_release.changelog]
-file = "CHANGELOG.md"
-
-[tool.semantic_release.commit_parser_options]
-allowed_tags = ["feat", "fix", "perf", "docs", "refactor", "test", "build", "ci", "chore", "revert"]
-minor_tags = ["feat"]
-patch_tags = ["fix", "refactor", "perf"]
-default_bump_level = 0
-
-[tool.semantic_release.publish]
-upload_to_vcs_release = true