diff --git a/assets.go b/assets.go
index 052fb21..23f67b4 100644
--- a/assets.go
+++ b/assets.go
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ func (fi bindataFileInfo) Sys() interface{} {
 	return nil
 }
 
-var _assetsGit_changereleaseYaml = []byte("\x1f\x8b\x08\x00\x00\x09\x6e\x88\x00\xff\xd2\xd5\xd5\xe5\xca\x4d\x2c\x49\xce\x88\x2f\x00\x91\x56\x5c\x0a\x0a\xba\x0a\x4a\x71\xd1\x69\x6e\xb1\x99\x15\x4a\x5c\x50\xb9\xdc\xc4\xac\xfc\x22\xb8\x9c\x53\x52\x6c\x51\x6a\x62\x76\x66\x5e\xba\x12\x17\x20\x00\x00\xff\xff\x2b\x53\xa7\xa0\x40\x00\x00\x00")
+var _assetsGit_changereleaseYaml = []byte("\x1f\x8b\x08\x00\x00\x09\x6e\x88\x00\xff\xd2\xd5\xd5\xe5\xca\x4d\x2c\x49\xce\x88\x2f\x00\x91\x56\x5c\x0a\x0a\xba\x0a\x4a\x71\xd1\x69\x6e\xb1\x99\x15\x4a\x5c\x50\xb9\xdc\xc4\xac\xfc\x22\xb8\x9c\x53\x52\x6c\x51\x6a\x62\x76\x66\x5e\x3a\x50\x41\x51\x6a\x4e\x6a\x62\x71\x6a\x7c\x72\x7e\x6e\x6e\x66\x49\x7c\x6e\x6a\x71\x71\x62\x7a\xaa\x95\x82\x52\x41\x51\x6a\x41\x62\x51\xaa\x02\x54\x81\x42\x75\xb5\x5e\x58\x6a\x51\x71\x66\x7e\x5e\x6d\xad\x12\x17\x20\x00\x00\xff\xff\x00\xa0\x8b\xae\x78\x00\x00\x00")
 
 func assetsGit_changereleaseYamlBytes() ([]byte, error) {
 	return bindataRead(
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ func assetsGit_changereleaseYaml() (*asset, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	info := bindataFileInfo{name: "assets/git_changerelease.yaml", size: 64, mode: os.FileMode(436), modTime: time.Unix(1468492027, 0)}
+	info := bindataFileInfo{name: "assets/git_changerelease.yaml", size: 120, mode: os.FileMode(436), modTime: time.Unix(1468498243, 0)}
 	a := &asset{bytes: bytes, info: info}
 	return a, nil
 }
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ func assetsLog_templateMd() (*asset, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	info := bindataFileInfo{name: "assets/log_template.md", size: 135, mode: os.FileMode(436), modTime: time.Unix(1468493297, 0)}
+	info := bindataFileInfo{name: "assets/log_template.md", size: 135, mode: os.FileMode(436), modTime: time.Unix(1468497058, 0)}
 	a := &asset{bytes: bytes, info: info}
 	return a, nil
 }
diff --git a/assets/git_changerelease.yaml b/assets/git_changerelease.yaml
index 33a6b46..f14ece1 100644
--- a/assets/git_changerelease.yaml
+++ b/assets/git_changerelease.yaml
@@ -4,3 +4,5 @@ match_patch:
 
 match_major:
   - "^[Bb]reaking"
+
+release_commit_message: "prepare release {{.Version}}"
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 22ed935..2831614 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -21,8 +21,9 @@ import (
 )
 
 type configFile struct {
-	MatchPatch []string `yaml:"match_patch"`
-	MatchMajor []string `yaml:"match_major"`
+	MatchPatch           []string `yaml:"match_patch"`
+	MatchMajor           []string `yaml:"match_major"`
+	ReleaseCommitMessage string   `yaml:"release_commit_message"`
 }
 
 var (
@@ -79,6 +80,9 @@ func loadConfig() error {
 		return errors.New("Config file does not exist, use --create-config to create one")
 	}
 
+	defaultConfigData, _ := Asset("assets/git_changerelease.yaml")
+	yaml.Unmarshal(defaultConfigData, &config)
+
 	data, err := ioutil.ReadFile(cfg.ConfigFile)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -101,6 +105,17 @@ func readChangelog() string {
 	return changelog
 }
 
+func quickTemplate(name string, tplSrc []byte, values map[string]interface{}) ([]byte, error) {
+	tpl, err := template.New(name).Parse(string(tplSrc))
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, errors.New("Unable to parse log template: " + err.Error())
+	}
+	buf := bytes.NewBuffer([]byte{})
+	tpl.Execute(buf, values)
+
+	return buf.Bytes(), nil
+}
+
 func main() {
 	// Get last tag
 	lastTag, err := gitSilent("describe", "--tags", "--abbrev=0")
@@ -155,19 +170,17 @@ func main() {
 
 	// Render log
 	rawTpl, _ := Asset("assets/log_template.md")
-	tpl, err := template.New("log_template").Parse(string(rawTpl))
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("Unable to parse log template: %s", err)
-	}
-	buf := bytes.NewBuffer([]byte{})
-	tpl.Execute(buf, map[string]interface{}{
+	c, err := quickTemplate("log_template", rawTpl, map[string]interface{}{
 		"NextVersion": newVersion,
 		"Now":         time.Now(),
 		"LogLines":    logs,
 		"OldLog":      readChangelog(),
 	})
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("Unable to compile log: %s", err)
+	}
 
-	if err := ioutil.WriteFile(cfg.ChangelogFile, bytes.TrimSpace(buf.Bytes()), 0644); err != nil {
+	if err := ioutil.WriteFile(cfg.ChangelogFile, bytes.TrimSpace(c), 0644); err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("Unable to write new changelog: %s", err)
 	}
 
@@ -192,14 +205,24 @@ func main() {
 		log.Fatalf("Unable to parse new version from log: %s", err)
 	}
 
+	stringVersion := "v" + newVersion.String()
+
 	// Write the tag
 	if _, err := gitErr("add", cfg.ChangelogFile); err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("Unable to add changelog file: %s", err)
 	}
-	if _, err := gitErr("commit", "-m", "prepare release v"+newVersion.String()); err != nil {
+
+	commitMessage, err := quickTemplate("commitMessage", []byte(config.ReleaseCommitMessage), map[string]interface{}{
+		"Version": stringVersion,
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("Unable to compile commit message: %s", err)
+	}
+	if _, err := gitErr("commit", "-m", string(commitMessage)); err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("Unable to commit changelog: %s", err)
 	}
-	if _, err := gitErr("tag", "-s", "-m", "v"+newVersion.String(), "v"+newVersion.String()); err != nil {
+
+	if _, err := gitErr("tag", "-s", "-m", stringVersion, stringVersion); err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("Unable to tag release: %s", err)
 	}
 }