diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 391d0ae459..3bd98066d8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -33,14 +33,24 @@ jobs:
 
           exit 0
 
-      - name: Generate changelog and release AWX
+      - name: Generate changelog
+        uses: shanemcd/simple-changelog-generator@v1
+        id: changelog
+        with:
+          repo: "${{ github.repository }}"
+
+      - name: Write changelog to file
+        run: |
+          cat << 'EOF' > /tmp/changelog
+          ${{ steps.changelog.outputs.changelog }}
+          EOF
+
+      - name: Release AWX
         run: |
-          sudo apt update
-          sudo apt install -y python3-pip
-          pip3 install ansible-core
           ansible-playbook -v tools/ansible/release.yml \
-            -e repo=${{ github.repository }} \
+            -e changelog_path=/tmp/changelog \
             -e version=${{ github.event.inputs.version }} \
-            -e github_token=${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+            -e github_token=${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} \
+            -e repo=${{ github.repository }}
 
 
diff --git a/tools/ansible/release.yml b/tools/ansible/release.yml
index 54210292ce..e604d16fe6 100644
--- a/tools/ansible/release.yml
+++ b/tools/ansible/release.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,29 @@
 ---
 - hosts: localhost
   connection: local
-  roles:
-    - release
+  vars:
+    payload:
+      body: "{{ lookup('file', changelog_path) | replace('\\n', '\n') }}"
+      name: "{{ version }}"
+      tag_name: "{{ version }}"
+      draft: true
+  tasks:
+    - name: Prepare Release Data
+      set_fact:
+        payload:
+          body: "{{ lookup('file', changelog_path) }}"
+          name: "{{ version }}"
+          tag_name: "{{ version }}"
+          draft: true
+
+    - name: Publish Release
+      uri:
+        url: "https://api.github.com/repos/{{ repo }}/releases"
+        method: "POST"
+        headers:
+          Accept: "application/vnd.github.v3+json"
+          Authorization: "Bearer {{ github_token }}"
+        body: "{{ payload | to_json }}"
+        status_code:
+          - 200
+          - 201
diff --git a/tools/ansible/roles/release/defaults/main.yml b/tools/ansible/roles/release/defaults/main.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 66df9801f4..0000000000
--- a/tools/ansible/roles/release/defaults/main.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
----
-parsed_changelog_entries: {}
diff --git a/tools/ansible/roles/release/tasks/main.yml b/tools/ansible/roles/release/tasks/main.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index bae5063cbb..0000000000
--- a/tools/ansible/roles/release/tasks/main.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,79 +0,0 @@
----
-- name: Look up latest release of AWX
-  uri:
-    url: "https://api.github.com/repos/{{ repo }}/releases/latest"
-  register: res
-
-- name: Record latest tag information
-  set_fact:
-    latest_tag: "{{ res.json.name }}"
-    created_at: "{{ res.json.created_at }}"
-
-- name: Construct search query
-  set_fact:
-    search_query: "{{ ('repo:' + repo + ' type:pr is:merged merged:>=' + created_at) | urlencode }}"
-
-- name: Find PRs since last release
-  uri:
-    url: "https://api.github.com/search/issues?q={{ search_query }}"
-    headers:
-      Accept: "application/vnd.github.v3+json"
-  register: new_merged_prs
-
-- name: Search PR descriptions for changelog entries
-  command: awk '/<!--- changelog-entry/{flag=1;next}/-->/{flag=0}flag'
-  args:
-    stdin: "{{ item.body }}"
-  loop: "{{ new_merged_prs.json['items'] }}"
-  changed_when: false
-  register: raw_changelog_entries
-
-- name: Parse changelog entries
-  set_fact:
-    parsed_changelog_entries: |
-      {{ parsed_changelog_entries | combine({item.item.pull_request.html_url: (item.stdout | from_yaml)}) }}
-  loop: "{{ raw_changelog_entries.results }}"
-
-- name: Construct final changelog blob
-  set_fact:
-    final_changelog: |
-      {%- set entries = {} -%}
-      {%- for entry in raw_changelog_entries.results -%}
-        {%- set parsed_entry = (entry.stdout | from_yaml) -%}
-        {%- if parsed_entry and parsed_entry.msg != "" -%}
-          {%- set msg = parsed_entry.msg -%}
-          {%- set pr_number = entry.item.number -%}
-          {%- set pr_url = entry.item.pull_request.html_url -%}
-          {%- set contributor_login = entry.item.user.login -%}
-          {%- set contributor_url = entry.item.user.html_url -%}
-          {%- set _ = entries.update({pr_url: {"msg": msg, "pr_number": pr_number, "contributor_login": contributor_login, "contributor_url": contributor_url}}) -%}
-        {%- endif -%}
-      {%- endfor -%}
-
-      {% if entries|length > 0 %}
-      Changes:
-
-      {% endif %}
-      {%- for key, value in entries.items() -%}
-      - {{ value.msg }} ([#{{ value.pr_number }}]({{ key }}), [@{{ value.contributor_login }}]({{ value.contributor_url }}))
-      {% endfor %}
-
-- name: Prepare Release Data
-  set_fact:
-    payload:
-      body: "{{ final_changelog }}"
-      name: "{{ version }}"
-      tag_name: "{{ version }}"
-      draft: true
-
-- name: Publish Release
-  uri:
-    url: "https://api.github.com/repos/{{ repo }}/releases"
-    method: "POST"
-    headers:
-      Accept: "application/vnd.github.v3+json"
-      Authorization: "Bearer {{ github_token }}"
-    body: "{{ payload | to_json }}"
-    status_code:
-      - 200
-      - 201