diff --git a/.github/workflows/docs.yml b/.github/workflows/docs.yml
index 24a2618d96..817beef588 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docs.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docs.yml
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@ on:
       - '.github/workflows/docs.yml'
 
 jobs:
-  ##############################################################################
+  #############################################################################
   # build documentation
-  ##############################################################################
+  #############################################################################
   build-doc:
     name: Push documentation to website
     if: github.repository == 'flintlib/flint'
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: "Setup"
         run: |
-          sudo apt-get install -y python3-sphinx
+          sudo apt-get install -y python3-sphinx texlive-full
           sphinx-build --version
 
       - name: "Build documentation"
@@ -38,12 +38,9 @@ jobs:
           make html SPHINXOPTS="-W -j auto"
 
       - name: "Build PDF documentation"
-        uses: dante-ev/latex-action@latest
-        with:
-          root_file:
-          compiler:
-          args:
-          entrypoint: doc/entrypoint.sh
+        run: |
+          cd doc
+          make latexpdf SPHINXOPTS="-W -j auto"
 
       - name: "Create a tarball of the documentation"
         run: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 00e0e6c6e7..bb7f22e3f7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@ on:
         default: nightly
   push:
     tags:
-      - v[1-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]    # allow v1.2.3
-      - v[1-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]-*  # allow v1.2.3-beta3 etc.
+      - v[1-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]            # allow v1.2.3
+      - v[1-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]-[a-z0-9]+  # allow v1.2.3-beta3 etc.
   schedule:
     # Every day at 3:33 AM UTC
     - cron: '33 3 * * *'
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ concurrency:
 
 jobs:
   version_and_tag:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     outputs:
       version: ${{ steps.get-version.outputs.version }}
       tag_name: ${{ steps.get-tag_name.outputs.tag_name }}
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ jobs:
 
 
   make-archive:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     needs: version_and_tag
     env:
       FLINT_VERSION: ${{ needs.version_and_tag.outputs.version }}
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ jobs:
 
   test-archive:
     needs: [version_and_tag, make-archive]
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     env:
       FLINT_VERSION: ${{ needs.version_and_tag.outputs.version }}
       TAG_NAME: ${{ needs.version_and_tag.outputs.tag_name }}
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ jobs:
 
   upload-archive:
     needs: [version_and_tag, make-archive, test-archive]
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     env:
       FLINT_VERSION: ${{ needs.version_and_tag.outputs.version }}
       TAG_NAME: ${{ needs.version_and_tag.outputs.tag_name }}
@@ -170,22 +170,25 @@ jobs:
       # figure out SUBJECT and PRERELEASE
       - if: env.TAG_NAME == 'nightly'
         run: |
-          (echo 'SUBJECT=FLINT nightly release';
-           echo 'PRERELEASE=--prerelease --draft') >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          (echo "SUBJECT=\"FLINT nightly release\"";
+           echo "PRERELEASE=\"--prerelease --draft\"") >> $GITHUB_ENV
           gh release delete nightly --yes || true
           git push origin :nightly || true
 
 
       - if: env.TAG_NAME != 'nightly'
         run: |
-          (echo 'SUBJECT=FLINT release';
-           echo 'PRERELEASE=') >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          (echo "SUBJECT=\"FLINT v${FLINT_VERSION}\"";
+           echo "PRERELEASE=") >> $GITHUB_ENV
           gh release delete stable --yes || true
           git push origin :stable || true
 
-      - name: Generate checksums
+      - name: Generate release message
         run: |
-          printf '## SHA256 Checksums\n```\n' > $RUNNER_TEMP/notes.md
+          # Print tag message
+          git for-each-ref refs/tags/v${FLINT_VERSION} --format='%(contents)' > $RUNNER_TEMP/notes.md
+          # Generate checksums
+          printf '## SHA256 Checksums\n```\n' >> $RUNNER_TEMP/notes.md
           for ext in tar.gz tar.xz zip; do
             fn=flint-${FLINT_VERSION}.$ext
             # `sha256sum` outputs <sha> <path>,
@@ -207,19 +210,12 @@ jobs:
           gh release create $TAG_NAME $PRERELEASE --notes-file "$RUNNER_TEMP/notes.md" --title "$SUBJECT" --target $GITHUB_SHA flint-${FLINT_VERSION}.{tar.gz,tar.xz,zip}
 
       - if: env.TAG_NAME != 'nightly'
-        name: "Setup for PDF documentation"
+        name: "Build PDF documentation"
         run: |
-          sudo apt-get install -y python3-sphinx
+          sudo apt-get install -y python3-sphinx texlive-full
           sphinx-build --version
-
-      - if: env.TAG_NAME != 'nightly'
-        name: "Build PDF documentation"
-        uses: dante-ev/latex-action@latest
-        with:
-          root_file:
-          compiler:
-          args:
-          entrypoint: doc/entrypoint.sh
+          cd doc/
+          make latexpdf SPHINXOPTS="-W -j auto"
 
       - if: env.TAG_NAME != 'nightly'
         name: "Setup SSH key"
@@ -236,7 +232,7 @@ jobs:
           mv doc/build/latex/flint.pdf flint-${FLINT_VERSION}.pdf
           for ext in pdf tar.gz zip; do
             scp flint-${FLINT_VERSION}.$ext wbhart@opal6.opalstack.com:~/apps/flintlib_org/download/
-          # Rebuild the website
-          ssh -t wbhart@opal6.opalstack.com 'cd ~/flintwebpage && python3 downloads.py ~/apps/flintlib_org && python3 build.py ~/apps/flintlib_org'
+          # Rebuild the website and append version-date tuple to HISTORY
+          ssh -t wbhart@opal6.opalstack.com 'cd ~/flintwebpage && date +'"'"'%Y-%m-%d'"'"' >> HISTORY && python3 downloads.py ~/apps/flintlib_org && python3 build.py ~/apps/flintlib_org'
 
 # TODO: we could / should perhaps also test `make install` ?