diff --git a/docs/release-process.md b/docs/release-process.md
index 1a60d1ee703..07c27528e0f 100644
--- a/docs/release-process.md
+++ b/docs/release-process.md
@@ -605,7 +605,7 @@ slightly different steps. We'll call attention where the steps differ.
     git fetch --all
     git pull --rebase upstream master
     cd ..
-    git commit distributions
+    git commit distributions -m "X.Y.Z tarballs"
     git push upstream master
     ```