diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
index 671d4a3..a0099f1 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
@@ -35,9 +35,10 @@ jobs:
           echo "version=$VERSION" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
       - name: Extract version changelog
+        if: steps.tag.outputs.version
         id: changelog
         run: |
-          VERSION=$(cat VERSION | tr -d '[:space:]')  # read version and trim whitespace
+          VERSION="${{ steps.tag.outputs.version }}"
           CHANGELOG_FILE=$(python3 scripts/get_changelog.py $VERSION)
 
           if [[ $? != 0 ]]; then
@@ -91,4 +92,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Cleanup
         if: steps.tag.outputs.version
-        run: rm -rf dist/*
+        run: |
+          CHANGELOG_FILE="${{ steps.changelog.outputs.changelog_file }}"
+          rm -rf dist/*
+          rm -f "$CHANGELOG_FILE"