diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 4d0c268612..2d6397388f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ jobs:
     - name: Generate Release
       run: |
         ./build.sh release $VERSION
+      env:
+        GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
     - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
       with:
         name: opensearch-net-${{env.VERSION}}-release-candidate
diff --git a/build/scripts/Commandline.fs b/build/scripts/Commandline.fs
index 23f7edf9b7..5045e98fc0 100644
--- a/build/scripts/Commandline.fs
+++ b/build/scripts/Commandline.fs
@@ -29,9 +29,7 @@ namespace Scripts
 
 open System
 open System.Runtime.InteropServices
-open Fake.Core
 open Fake.IO
-open Octokit
 
 //this is ugly but a direct port of what used to be duplicated in our DOS and bash scripts
 module Commandline =
diff --git a/build/scripts/ReleaseNotes.fs b/build/scripts/ReleaseNotes.fs
index ae856b11f1..1eff012b12 100644
--- a/build/scripts/ReleaseNotes.fs
+++ b/build/scripts/ReleaseNotes.fs
@@ -27,11 +27,12 @@
 
 namespace Scripts
 
+open System
 open System.Collections.Generic
 open System.Linq
 open System.IO
 open System.Text.RegularExpressions
-open System.Text;
+open System.Text
 open Octokit
 open Versioning
 
@@ -137,8 +138,13 @@ module ReleaseNotes =
         filter.Labels.Add label
         filter.State <- ItemStateFilter.Closed
 
-        let client = GitHubClient(ProductHeaderValue("ReleaseNotesGenerator"))  
-        client.Credentials <- Credentials.Anonymous
+        let client = GitHubClient(ProductHeaderValue("ReleaseNotesGenerator"))
+
+        client.Credentials <-
+            Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("GITHUB_TOKEN")
+            |> Option.ofObj
+            |> Option.map (fun token -> Credentials(token))
+            |> Option.defaultValue Credentials.Anonymous
 
         client.Issue.GetAllForRepository(Paths.GitHubOwnerName, Paths.GitHubRepositoryName, filter)
         |> Async.AwaitTask