diff --git a/docs/release-notes.md b/docs/release-notes.md
index 71c095e19a..25ebdb8edf 100644
--- a/docs/release-notes.md
+++ b/docs/release-notes.md
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 <!-- towncrier release notes start -->
 
-# zarr 3.1.5 (2025-11-21)
+## zarr 3.1.5 (2025-11-21)
 
 ## Bugfixes
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index b3816f22c9..b1077e3e5d 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -445,6 +445,7 @@ checks = [
 directory = 'changes'
 filename = "docs/release-notes.md"
 underlines = ["", "", ""]
+title_format = "## {version} ({project_date})"
 issue_format = "[#{issue}](https://github.com/zarr-developers/zarr-python/issues/{issue})"
 start_string = "<!-- towncrier release notes start -->\n"