diff --git a/_do_bump_version b/_do_bump_version
index a3d22f7..56486ca 100755
--- a/_do_bump_version
+++ b/_do_bump_version
@@ -52,5 +52,9 @@ EOL
 ./_do_gen_handler_tests
 
 # create and tag single commit with a change to the version file
-git commit --all --message "bump to $new_version"
+git commit --all --file - << EOL
+bump to $new_version
+
+generated by \`_do_bump_version\` script in project root
+EOL
 git tag "$new_version"