diff --git a/scripts/gen-release-notes.sh b/scripts/gen-release-notes.sh
index eab46271..27c84465 100755
--- a/scripts/gen-release-notes.sh
+++ b/scripts/gen-release-notes.sh
@@ -55,20 +55,25 @@ echo "Version: $version" >&2
 echo "Previous version: ${prev_version:-none}" >&2
 echo "Changelog length: ${#changelog} chars" >&2
 
+# Capture stderr separately to avoid polluting output
+stderr_file=$(mktemp)
+trap 'rm -f "$stderr_file"' EXIT
+
 if ! output=$(
 	printf '%s' "$prompt" | claude -p \
 		--model claude-opus-4-20250514 \
 		--output-format text \
-		--allowedTools "Read,Grep,Glob" 2>&1
+		--allowedTools "Read,Grep,Glob" 2>"$stderr_file"
 ); then
 	echo "Error: Claude CLI failed" >&2
-	echo "Output: $output" >&2
+	cat "$stderr_file" >&2
 	exit 1
 fi
 
 # Validate we got non-empty output
 if [[ -z $output ]]; then
 	echo "Error: Claude returned empty output" >&2
+	cat "$stderr_file" >&2
 	exit 1
 fi