diff --git a/src/github-api.ts b/src/github-api.ts
index 8c72c1032..b7efb6b00 100644
--- a/src/github-api.ts
+++ b/src/github-api.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import {PullRequest} from './pull-request';
 import {Repository} from './repository';
 import {Release} from './release';
 import {
+  ScmChangeSet,
   ScmRelease,
   ScmReleaseIteratorOptions,
   ScmReleaseOptions,
@@ -651,6 +652,112 @@ export class GitHubApi {
     }
   );
 
+  /**
+   * Apply file changes as a single commit on top of an existing branch via
+   * the Git Database API. The branch ref is force-updated.
+   *
+   * Empty change sets are a no-op.
+   *
+   * @param branchName The branch to push to (must already exist).
+   * @param message Commit message.
+   * @param changes File-level changes to apply.
+   * @returns The new commit SHA, or undefined if there were no changes.
+   * @throws {ConfigurationError} if the branch does not exist.
+   * @throws {GitHubAPIError} on any other API error.
+   */
+  commitAndPushChanges = wrapAsync(
+    async (
+      branchName: string,
+      message: string,
+      changes: ScmChangeSet
+    ): Promise<string | undefined> => {
+      if (changes.size === 0) {
+        this.logger.debug(
+          `No file changes to push to branch ${branchName}; skipping commit`
+        );
+        return undefined;
+      }
+      const owner = this.repository.owner;
+      const repo = this.repository.repo;
+      const branchSha = await this.getBranchSha(branchName);
+      if (!branchSha) {
+        throw new ConfigurationError(
+          `Branch ${branchName} does not exist`,
+          'core',
+          `${owner}/${repo}`
+        );
+      }
+      const {
+        data: {
+          tree: {sha: baseTreeSha},
+        },
+      } = await this.octokit.git.getCommit({
+        owner,
+        repo,
+        commit_sha: branchSha,
+      });
+      const treeEntries: {
+        path: string;
+        mode: '100644' | '100755' | '040000' | '160000' | '120000';
+        type: 'blob';
+        sha: string | null;
+      }[] = [];
+      for (const [filePath, diff] of changes) {
+        if (diff.content === null) {
+          treeEntries.push({
+            path: filePath,
+            mode: diff.mode,
+            type: 'blob',
+            sha: null,
+          });
+        } else {
+          const {
+            data: {sha: blobSha},
+          } = await this.octokit.git.createBlob({
+            owner,
+            repo,
+            content: Buffer.from(diff.content).toString('base64'),
+            encoding: 'base64',
+          });
+          treeEntries.push({
+            path: filePath,
+            mode: diff.mode,
+            type: 'blob',
+            sha: blobSha,
+          });
+        }
+      }
+      const {
+        data: {sha: newTreeSha},
+      } = await this.octokit.git.createTree({
+        owner,
+        repo,
+        base_tree: baseTreeSha,
+        tree: treeEntries,
+      });
+      const {
+        data: {sha: newCommitSha},
+      } = await this.octokit.git.createCommit({
+        owner,
+        repo,
+        message,
+        tree: newTreeSha,
+        parents: [branchSha],
+      });
+      await this.octokit.git.updateRef({
+        owner,
+        repo,
+        ref: `heads/${branchName}`,
+        sha: newCommitSha,
+        force: true,
+      });
+      this.logger.debug(
+        `Pushed commit ${newCommitSha} (${treeEntries.length} file change(s)) to ${branchName}`
+      );
+      return newCommitSha;
+    }
+  );
+
   /**
    * Create a GitHub release
    *
diff --git a/src/github.ts b/src/github.ts
index 07035fd04..fe4334398 100644
--- a/src/github.ts
+++ b/src/github.ts
@@ -792,24 +792,12 @@ export class GitHub implements Scm {
     )
       .toString()
       .slice(0, MAX_ISSUE_BODY_SIZE);
-    const prNumber = await suggesterCreatePullRequest(this.octokit, changes, {
-      upstreamOwner: this.repository.owner,
-      upstreamRepo: this.repository.repo,
-      title,
-      branch: releasePullRequest.headRefName,
-      description: body,
-      primary: targetBranch,
-      force: true,
-      fork: options?.fork === false ? false : true,
+    // Force-push the new tree onto the PR's head branch, then PATCH the PR's title/body.
+    await this.gitHubApi.commitAndPushChanges(
+      releasePullRequest.headRefName,
       message,
-      logger: this.logger,
-      draft: releasePullRequest.draft,
-    });
-    if (prNumber !== number) {
-      this.logger.warn(
-        `updated code for ${prNumber}, but update requested for ${number}`
-      );
-    }
+      changes
+    );
     return this.gitHubApi.updatePullRequest(number, title, body);
   }
 
diff --git a/src/local-github.ts b/src/local-github.ts
index 0ee726d35..b3c5d25ca 100644
--- a/src/local-github.ts
+++ b/src/local-github.ts
@@ -804,28 +804,12 @@ export class LocalGitHub implements Scm {
       .toString()
       .slice(0, MAX_ISSUE_BODY_SIZE);
 
-    const prNumber = await suggesterCreatePullRequest(
-      this.gitHubApi.octokit,
-      changes,
-      {
-        upstreamOwner: this.repository.owner,
-        upstreamRepo: this.repository.repo,
-        title,
-        branch: pullRequest.headRefName,
-        description: body,
-        primary: targetBranch,
-        force: true,
-        fork: options?.fork === false ? false : true,
-        message,
-        logger: this.logger,
-        draft: pullRequest.draft,
-      }
+    // Force-push the new tree onto the PR's head branch, then PATCH the PR's title/body.
+    await this.gitHubApi.commitAndPushChanges(
+      pullRequest.headRefName,
+      message,
+      changes
     );
-    if (prNumber !== number) {
-      this.logger.warn(
-        `updated code for ${prNumber}, but update requested for ${number}`
-      );
-    }
     return this.gitHubApi.updatePullRequest(number, title, body);
   }
 
diff --git a/test/github.ts b/test/github.ts
index e25ec03ed..4e55b21e8 100644
--- a/test/github.ts
+++ b/test/github.ts
@@ -1214,5 +1214,113 @@ describe('GitHub', () => {
       sinon.assert.calledOnce(handleOverflowStub);
       req.done();
     });
+
+    it('pushes file changes via the Git Data API and PATCHes the PR (no code-suggester)', async () => {
+      // Stub buildChangeSet so we don't have to nock all of file fetches.
+      const branch = 'release-please--branches--main--components--xdeployment';
+      const changes = new Map();
+      changes.set('CHANGELOG.md', {
+        mode: '100644',
+        content: '# new changelog\n',
+        originalContent: '# old changelog\n',
+      });
+      sandbox.stub(github, 'buildChangeSet').resolves(changes);
+
+      // If code-suggester is reached we'd see /pulls?head=... or POST /pulls;
+      // the absence of a matching nock would error the test if it happened.
+      const createPullRequestSpy = sandbox.spy(
+        codeSuggester,
+        'createPullRequest'
+      );
+
+      // Git Data API call sequence: getRef -> getCommit -> createBlob ->
+      // createTree -> createCommit -> updateRef.
+      req = req
+        .get(`/repos/fake/fake/git/ref/heads%2F${encodeURIComponent(branch)}`)
+        .reply(200, {object: {sha: 'parent-sha'}})
+        .get('/repos/fake/fake/git/commits/parent-sha')
+        .reply(200, {tree: {sha: 'base-tree-sha'}})
+        .post('/repos/fake/fake/git/blobs')
+        .reply(201, {sha: 'blob-sha'})
+        .post('/repos/fake/fake/git/trees', body => {
+          expect(body.base_tree).to.eql('base-tree-sha');
+          expect(body.tree).to.have.lengthOf(1);
+          expect(body.tree[0]).to.deep.include({
+            path: 'CHANGELOG.md',
+            mode: '100644',
+            type: 'blob',
+            sha: 'blob-sha',
+          });
+          return true;
+        })
+        .reply(201, {sha: 'new-tree-sha'})
+        .post('/repos/fake/fake/git/commits', body => {
+          expect(body.tree).to.eql('new-tree-sha');
+          expect(body.parents).to.eql(['parent-sha']);
+          return true;
+        })
+        .reply(201, {sha: 'new-commit-sha'})
+        .patch(
+          `/repos/fake/fake/git/refs/heads%2F${encodeURIComponent(branch)}`,
+          body => {
+            expect(body.sha).to.eql('new-commit-sha');
+            expect(body.force).to.eql(true);
+            return true;
+          }
+        )
+        .reply(200, {object: {sha: 'new-commit-sha'}})
+        .patch('/repos/fake/fake/pulls/123')
+        .reply(200, {
+          number: 123,
+          title: 'updated-title',
+          body: 'updated body',
+          labels: [],
+          head: {ref: branch},
+          base: {ref: 'main'},
+        });
+
+      const pullRequest = {
+        title: PullRequestTitle.ofTargetBranch('main'),
+        body: new PullRequestBody(mockReleaseData(1)),
+        labels: [],
+        headRefName: branch,
+        draft: false,
+        updates: [],
+      };
+      const result = await github.updatePullRequest(123, pullRequest, 'main');
+      expect(result.number).to.eql(123);
+      sinon.assert.notCalled(createPullRequestSpy);
+      req.done();
+    });
+
+    it('skips the commit step when there are no file changes', async () => {
+      sandbox.stub(github, 'buildChangeSet').resolves(new Map());
+      const createPullRequestSpy = sandbox.spy(
+        codeSuggester,
+        'createPullRequest'
+      );
+
+      req = req.patch('/repos/fake/fake/pulls/123').reply(200, {
+        number: 123,
+        title: 'updated-title',
+        body: 'updated body',
+        labels: [],
+        head: {ref: 'release-please--branches--main'},
+        base: {ref: 'main'},
+      });
+
+      const pullRequest = {
+        title: PullRequestTitle.ofTargetBranch('main'),
+        body: new PullRequestBody(mockReleaseData(1)),
+        labels: [],
+        headRefName: 'release-please--branches--main',
+        draft: false,
+        updates: [],
+      };
+      const result = await github.updatePullRequest(123, pullRequest, 'main');
+      expect(result.number).to.eql(123);
+      sinon.assert.notCalled(createPullRequestSpy);
+      req.done();
+    });
   });
 });