diff --git a/publish-version.mjs b/publish-version.mjs
index dbcd592b9..68401bf40 100644
--- a/publish-version.mjs
+++ b/publish-version.mjs
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ async function run() {
   const lernaJson = JSON.parse(await fs.readFile('lerna.json', 'utf-8'));
 
   // read the current version from ./version.txt
-  const nextVersion = await fs.readFile('./version.txt', 'utf-8');
+  const nextVersion = (await fs.readFile('./version.txt', 'utf-8')).trim();
   const packages = lernaJson.packages;
 
   if (!packages) {
@@ -60,14 +60,14 @@ async function run() {
   // Maybe we need to hook the netlify deploy preview
   // await execa('yarn', ['run', 'build']);
 
-  console.log('Committing and pushing changes...');
-  await execa('git', ['add', '-A']);
-  await execa('git', ['commit', '-m', 'chore(version): version.json [skip ci]']);
-  await execa('git', ['push', 'origin', branchName]);
-
   console.log('Setting the version using lerna...');
 
-  // add a message to the commit to indicate that the version was set using lerna
+  // Stage all changes (version.json, peer dependency updates, .npmrc deletion)
+  // before lerna runs so they're included in lerna's commit
+  await execa('git', ['add', '-A']);
+
+  // Run lerna version without pushing
+  // lerna will update package.json files and create a commit
   await execa('npx', [
     'lerna',
     'version',
@@ -76,12 +76,36 @@ async function run() {
     '--exact',
     '--force-publish',
     '--message',
-    'chore(version): Update package versions [skip ci]',
+    `chore(version): Update package versions to ${nextVersion} [skip ci]`,
     '--conventional-commits',
     '--create-release',
     'github',
+    '--no-push',
   ]);
 
+  // Stage any files that need to be included in the amended commit. Lerna commits the package.json
+  // files it modifies, but may not include other files that were staged before it ran (like
+  // version.json or .npmrc deletion). Since we're amending the commit to combine all version-related
+  // changes into a single commit, we need to ensure these files are included.
+  // 
+  // Note: Peer dependency updates are already in the package.json files that lerna modified,
+  // so they will be included in lerna's commit automatically.
+  await execa('git', ['add', '-A']);
+
+  // Amend the last commit to include all changes. The commit message is already set by lerna
+  // (line 79) and is the same, so we use --no-edit to keep the existing message.
+  // This combines the version.json commit and package version updates into one commit
+  await execa('git', ['commit', '--amend', '--no-edit']);
+
+  console.log('Pushing changes...');
+  
+  // Note: Force push is not necessary here because:
+  // 1. Lerna is called with --no-push, so the commit created by lerna is never pushed to remote
+  // 2. We amend the commit locally before pushing, so it's a new commit from the remote's perspective
+  // 3. This script runs on a single branch locally, so there's no history rewrite on the remote
+  // A regular push is sufficient since we're pushing a commit that doesn't exist on the remote yet
+  await execa('git', ['push', 'origin', branchName]);
+
   console.log('Version set using lerna');
 }