diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 65a6c4665..10cf5f46e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ jobs:
       LD_RELEASE_VERSION: ${{ inputs.releaseVersion }}
       DRY_RUN: ${{ inputs.dryRun || 'false' }}
       CHANGELOG_ENTRY: ${{ inputs.changeLog }}
-      CHANGELOG_JSON: ${{ toJSON(inputs.changeLog) }}
       GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
       ARTIFACT_DIRECTORY: "/tmp/release-artifacts"
     steps:
@@ -77,5 +76,5 @@ jobs:
         with:
           token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           tag: v${{ inputs.releaseVersion }}
-          body: ${{ fromJSON(toJSON(inputs.changeLog)) }}
+          body: ${{ inputs.changeLog }}
           artifacts: ${{ env.ARTIFACT_DIRECTORY }}/*
diff --git a/scripts/release/commit-and-tag.sh b/scripts/release/commit-and-tag.sh
index 037e623c9..027efa548 100755
--- a/scripts/release/commit-and-tag.sh
+++ b/scripts/release/commit-and-tag.sh
@@ -11,23 +11,7 @@ tag_exists() (
 
 update_changelog() (
   local ts=$(date +"%Y-%m-%d")
-
-  echo "raw changelog"
-  echo "$CHANGELOG_ENTRY"
-
-  echo "json changelog"
-  echo "$CHANGELOG_JSON"
-  
-  local changelog_body=$(echo "$CHANGELOG_ENTRY" | sed "s/\\n/\n/g")
-  local changelog_json=$(echo "$CHANGELOG_ENTRY" | jq -r .)
-
-  echo "parsed with sed"
-  echo "$changelog_body"
-
-  echo "parsed with jq"
-  echo "$changelog_json"
-
-  local changelog_entry=$(printf "## [%s] - %s\n%s\n" "$LD_RELEASE_VERSION" "$ts" "$changelog_body")
+  local changelog_entry=$(printf "## [%s] - %s\n%s\n" "$LD_RELEASE_VERSION" "$ts" "$CHANGELOG_ENTRY")
 
   # insert the new changelog entry (followed by empty line) after line 4
   # of CHANGELOG.md