diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 714e518c89f..2eb7746afbb 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ GOSEC_VERSION := 2.19.0
 RELEASE_NOTES := ${BUILD_BIN_PATH}/release-notes
 ZEITGEIST := ${BUILD_BIN_PATH}/zeitgeist
 ZEITGEIST_VERSION := v0.4.4
-RELEASE_NOTES_VERSION := v0.16.8
+RELEASE_NOTES_VERSION := v0.17.0
 SHFMT := ${BUILD_BIN_PATH}/shfmt
 SHFMT_VERSION := v3.7.0
 SHELLCHECK := ${BUILD_BIN_PATH}/shellcheck
diff --git a/dependencies.yaml b/dependencies.yaml
index f1de06ea923..37f82a2d984 100644
--- a/dependencies.yaml
+++ b/dependencies.yaml
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ dependencies:
         match: NIX_VERSION
 
   - name: release-notes
-    version: 0.16.8
+    version: 0.17.0
     refPaths:
       - path: Makefile
         match: RELEASE_NOTES_VERSION
diff --git a/scripts/release-notes/release_notes.go b/scripts/release-notes/release_notes.go
index 369b73b55fe..1caad9c08aa 100644
--- a/scripts/release-notes/release_notes.go
+++ b/scripts/release-notes/release_notes.go
@@ -235,6 +235,7 @@ To verify the bill of materials (SBOM) in [SPDX](https://spdx.org) format using
 		"--repo-path=/tmp/cri-o-repo",
 		"--required-author=",
 		"--start-rev="+startTag,
+		"--skip-first-commit",
 		"--end-sha="+head,
 		"--output="+outputFilePath,
 		"--toc",