diff --git a/doc/nbgv-cli.md b/doc/nbgv-cli.md
index b7e58610e..dfe4f55a5 100644
--- a/doc/nbgv-cli.md
+++ b/doc/nbgv-cli.md
@@ -165,6 +165,23 @@ For each branch, the following properties are provided:
 **Note:** When the current branch is already the release branch for the current version, no new branch will be created.
 In that case, the `NewBranch` property will be `null`.
 
+### Customizing the `prepare-release` commit message
+
+By default, the `prepare-release` command generates a commit message with the format "Set version to {version}".
+A switch allows you to customize the commit message, using `{0}` as a placeholder for the version.
+
+For example, running the following command:
+
+```
+nbgv prepare-release --commit-message-pattern "Custom commit message pattern - {0} custom message"
+```
+
+So your commit message is going to be this:
+
+```
+Custom commit message pattern - 1.0 custom message
+```
+
 ## Creating a version tag
 
 The `tag` command automates the task of tagging a commit with a version.
diff --git a/src/NerdBank.GitVersioning/ReleaseManager.cs b/src/NerdBank.GitVersioning/ReleaseManager.cs
index 9dc198010..e937bc2d2 100644
--- a/src/NerdBank.GitVersioning/ReleaseManager.cs
+++ b/src/NerdBank.GitVersioning/ReleaseManager.cs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 // Copyright (c) .NET Foundation and Contributors. All rights reserved.
 // Licensed under the MIT license. See LICENSE file in the project root for full license information.
 
+using System.Globalization;
 using LibGit2Sharp;
 using Nerdbank.GitVersioning.LibGit2;
 using Newtonsoft.Json;
@@ -127,7 +128,10 @@ public enum ReleaseManagerOutputMode
     /// <param name="outputMode">
     /// The output format to use for writing to stdout.
     /// </param>
-    public void PrepareRelease(string projectDirectory, string releaseUnstableTag = null, Version nextVersion = null, VersionOptions.ReleaseVersionIncrement? versionIncrement = null, ReleaseManagerOutputMode outputMode = default)
+    /// <param name="unformattedCommitMessage">
+    /// An optional, custom message to use for the commit that sets the new version number. May use <c>{0}</c> to substitute the new version number.
+    /// </param>
+    public void PrepareRelease(string projectDirectory, string releaseUnstableTag = null, Version nextVersion = null, VersionOptions.ReleaseVersionIncrement? versionIncrement = null, ReleaseManagerOutputMode outputMode = default, string unformattedCommitMessage = null)
     {
         Requires.NotNull(projectDirectory, nameof(projectDirectory));
 
@@ -168,7 +172,7 @@ public void PrepareRelease(string projectDirectory, string releaseUnstableTag =
                 this.WriteToOutput(releaseInfo);
             }
 
-            this.UpdateVersion(context, versionOptions.Version, releaseVersion);
+            this.UpdateVersion(context, versionOptions.Version, releaseVersion, unformattedCommitMessage);
             return;
         }
 
@@ -192,7 +196,7 @@ public void PrepareRelease(string projectDirectory, string releaseUnstableTag =
         // create release branch and update version
         Branch releaseBranch = repository.CreateBranch(releaseBranchName);
         global::LibGit2Sharp.Commands.Checkout(repository, releaseBranch);
-        this.UpdateVersion(context, versionOptions.Version, releaseVersion);
+        this.UpdateVersion(context, versionOptions.Version, releaseVersion, unformattedCommitMessage);
 
         if (outputMode == ReleaseManagerOutputMode.Text)
         {
@@ -201,7 +205,7 @@ public void PrepareRelease(string projectDirectory, string releaseUnstableTag =
 
         // update version on main branch
         global::LibGit2Sharp.Commands.Checkout(repository, originalBranchName);
-        this.UpdateVersion(context, versionOptions.Version, nextDevVersion);
+        this.UpdateVersion(context, versionOptions.Version, nextDevVersion, unformattedCommitMessage);
 
         if (outputMode == ReleaseManagerOutputMode.Text)
         {
@@ -261,7 +265,7 @@ private string GetReleaseBranchName(VersionOptions versionOptions)
         return branchNameFormat.Replace("{version}", versionOptions.Version.Version.ToString());
     }
 
-    private void UpdateVersion(LibGit2Context context, SemanticVersion oldVersion, SemanticVersion newVersion)
+    private void UpdateVersion(LibGit2Context context, SemanticVersion oldVersion, SemanticVersion newVersion, string unformattedCommitMessage)
     {
         Requires.NotNull(context, nameof(context));
 
@@ -290,7 +294,13 @@ private void UpdateVersion(LibGit2Context context, SemanticVersion oldVersion, S
             // Author a commit only if we effectively changed something.
             if (!context.Repository.Head.Tip.Tree.Equals(context.Repository.Index.WriteToTree()))
             {
-                context.Repository.Commit($"Set version to '{versionOptions.Version}'", signature, signature, new CommitOptions() { AllowEmptyCommit = false });
+                if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(unformattedCommitMessage))
+                {
+                    unformattedCommitMessage = "Set version to '{0}'";
+                }
+
+                string commitMessage = string.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, unformattedCommitMessage, versionOptions.Version);
+                context.Repository.Commit(commitMessage, signature, signature, new CommitOptions() { AllowEmptyCommit = false });
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/nbgv/Program.cs b/src/nbgv/Program.cs
index 960e2062f..5eaa19cb1 100644
--- a/src/nbgv/Program.cs
+++ b/src/nbgv/Program.cs
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 using System.IO;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Reflection;
+using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
 using System.Threading;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using Microsoft.Build.Construction;
@@ -69,6 +70,7 @@ private enum ExitCodes
             ShallowClone,
             InternalError,
             InvalidTagNameSetting,
+            InvalidUnformattedCommitMessage,
         }
 
         private static bool AlwaysUseLibGit2 => string.Equals(Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("NBGV_GitEngine"), "LibGit2", StringComparison.Ordinal);
@@ -217,6 +219,7 @@ private static Parser BuildCommandLine()
                 var nextVersion = new Option<string>("--nextVersion", "The version to set for the current branch. If omitted, the next version is determined automatically by incrementing the current version.");
                 var versionIncrement = new Option<string>("--versionIncrement", "Overrides the 'versionIncrement' setting set in version.json for determining the next version of the current branch.");
                 var format = new Option<string>(new[] { "--format", "-f" }, $"The format to write information about the release. Allowed values are: {string.Join(", ", SupportedFormats)}. The default is {DefaultOutputFormat}.").FromAmong(SupportedFormats);
+                var unformattedCommitMessage = new Option<string>("--commit-message-pattern", "A custom message to use for the commit that changes the version number. May include {0} for the version number. If not specified, the default is \"Set version to '{0}'\".");
                 var tagArgument = new Argument<string>("tag", "The prerelease tag to apply on the release branch (if any). If not specified, any existing prerelease tag will be removed. The preceding hyphen may be omitted.")
                 {
                     Arity = ArgumentArity.ZeroOrOne,
@@ -227,10 +230,11 @@ private static Parser BuildCommandLine()
                     nextVersion,
                     versionIncrement,
                     format,
+                    unformattedCommitMessage,
                     tagArgument,
                 };
 
-                prepareRelease.SetHandler(OnPrepareReleaseCommand, project, nextVersion, versionIncrement, format, tagArgument);
+                prepareRelease.SetHandler(OnPrepareReleaseCommand, project, nextVersion, versionIncrement, format, tagArgument, unformattedCommitMessage);
             }
 
             var root = new RootCommand($"{ThisAssembly.AssemblyTitle} v{ThisAssembly.AssemblyInformationalVersion}")
@@ -710,7 +714,7 @@ private static Task<int> OnCloudCommand(string project, string[] metadata, strin
             return Task.FromResult((int)ExitCodes.OK);
         }
 
-        private static Task<int> OnPrepareReleaseCommand(string project, string nextVersion, string versionIncrement, string format, string tag)
+        private static Task<int> OnPrepareReleaseCommand(string project, string nextVersion, string versionIncrement, string format, string tag, string unformattedCommitMessage)
         {
             // validate project path property
             string searchPath = GetSpecifiedOrCurrentDirectoryPath(project);
@@ -763,11 +767,24 @@ private static Task<int> OnPrepareReleaseCommand(string project, string nextVers
                 return Task.FromResult((int)ExitCodes.UnsupportedFormat);
             }
 
+            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(unformattedCommitMessage))
+            {
+                try
+                {
+                    string.Format(unformattedCommitMessage, "FormatValidator");
+                }
+                catch (FormatException ex)
+                {
+                    Console.Error.WriteLine($"Invalid commit message pattern: {ex.Message}");
+                    return Task.FromResult((int)ExitCodes.InvalidUnformattedCommitMessage);
+                }
+            }
+
             // run prepare-release
             try
             {
                 var releaseManager = new ReleaseManager(Console.Out, Console.Error);
-                releaseManager.PrepareRelease(searchPath, tag, nextVersionParsed, versionIncrementParsed, outputMode);
+                releaseManager.PrepareRelease(searchPath, tag, nextVersionParsed, versionIncrementParsed, outputMode, unformattedCommitMessage);
                 return Task.FromResult((int)ExitCodes.OK);
             }
             catch (ReleaseManager.ReleasePreparationException ex)
diff --git a/test/Nerdbank.GitVersioning.Tests/ReleaseManagerTests.cs b/test/Nerdbank.GitVersioning.Tests/ReleaseManagerTests.cs
index 9ced1c7a2..0c170b81d 100644
--- a/test/Nerdbank.GitVersioning.Tests/ReleaseManagerTests.cs
+++ b/test/Nerdbank.GitVersioning.Tests/ReleaseManagerTests.cs
@@ -638,6 +638,34 @@ public void PrepareRelease_ResetsVersionHeightOffset()
         Assert.Equal(expectedReleaseVersionOptions, releaseVersion);
     }
 
+    [Theory]
+    [InlineData("1.0-beta", "{0} Custom commit message pattern", "1.0 Custom commit message pattern")]
+    [InlineData("1.0-beta", "Custom commit message pattern - {0} custom message", "Custom commit message pattern - 1.0 custom message")]
+    [InlineData("1.0-beta", "Custom commit message pattern - {0}", "Custom commit message pattern - 1.0")]
+    [InlineData("1.0-beta", "{0}", "1.0")]
+    public void PrepareRelease_WithCustomCommitMessagePattern(string initialVersion, string commitMessagePattern, string expectedCommitMessage)
+    {
+        // Create and configure the repository
+        this.InitializeSourceControl();
+
+        var versionOptions = new VersionOptions()
+        {
+            Version = SemanticVersion.Parse(initialVersion),
+        };
+
+        this.WriteVersionFile(versionOptions);
+
+        // Run PrepareRelease with the custom commit message pattern
+        var releaseManager = new ReleaseManager();
+        releaseManager.PrepareRelease(this.RepoPath, unformattedCommitMessage: commitMessagePattern);
+
+        // Verify that the commit message on the release branch matches the expected pattern
+        string releaseBranchName = "v1.0";
+        Branch releaseBranch = this.LibGit2Repository.Branches[releaseBranchName];
+        Commit releaseBranchCommit = releaseBranch.Tip;
+        Assert.Equal(expectedCommitMessage, releaseBranchCommit.MessageShort);
+    }
+
     /// <inheritdoc/>
     protected override void InitializeSourceControl(bool withInitialCommit = true)
     {