diff --git a/.ci/scripts/check_release.py b/.ci/scripts/check_release.py
index 8e6afea1d..1e89716df 100755
--- a/.ci/scripts/check_release.py
+++ b/.ci/scripts/check_release.py
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ def main():
             if branch != DEFAULT_BRANCH:
                 # Check if a Z release is needed
                 changes = repo.git.ls_tree("-r", "--name-only", f"origin/{branch}", "CHANGES/")
-                z_release = False
+                z_changelog = False
                 for change in changes.split("\n"):
                     # Check each changelog file to make sure everything checks out
                     _, ext = os.path.splitext(change)
@@ -75,8 +75,13 @@ def main():
                             f"{branch} release branch!"
                         )
                     elif ext in Z_CHANGELOG_EXTS:
-                        z_release = True
-                if z_release:
+                        z_changelog = True
+
+                last_tag = repo.git.describe("--tags", "--abbrev=0", f"origin/{branch}")
+                req_txt_diff = repo.git.diff(
+                    f"{last_tag}", f"origin/{branch}", "--name-only", "--", "requirements.txt"
+                )
+                if z_changelog or req_txt_diff:
                     # Blobless clone does not have file contents for Z branches,
                     # check commit message for last Z bump
                     git_branch = f"origin/{branch}"
@@ -106,9 +111,12 @@ def main():
                     # You could, theoretically, be next_vers==None here - but that's always
                     # been true for this script.
                     next_version = Version(next_version)
+                    reason = "CHANGES" if z_changelog else "requirements.txt"
                     print(
                         f"A Z-release is needed for {branch}, "
-                        f"New Version: {next_version.base_version}"
+                        f"Prev: {last_tag}, "
+                        f"Next: {next_version.base_version}, "
+                        f"Reason: {reason}"
                     )
                     releases.append(next_version)
             else:
diff --git a/.github/template_gitref b/.github/template_gitref
index adbf44858..d42a1cd95 100644
--- a/.github/template_gitref
+++ b/.github/template_gitref
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2021.08.26-322-g8700c1c
+2021.08.26-324-gb820cc2