diff --git a/.github/workflows/upstream-release-docs.yml b/.github/workflows/upstream-release-docs.yml
index f00545cb..c581b852 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/upstream-release-docs.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/upstream-release-docs.yml
@@ -509,8 +509,10 @@ jobs:
           # `renovate[bot]`, while `gh pr view`/`gh release view`
           # return `app/toolhive-release-app` for the same class of
           # identity.
+          # GitHub logins are case-insensitive; preserve their spelling
+          # in outputs while comparing bot names without case sensitivity.
           is_bot() {
-            printf '%s\n' "$1" | grep -qE '(\[bot\]$|^app/|^github-actions|^stacklokbot$|^dependabot|^renovate|^copilot)'
+            printf '%s\n' "$1" | grep -qiE '(\[bot\]$|^app/|^github-actions|^stacklokbot$|^dependabot|^renovate|^copilot)'
           }
 
           # ---------- compare the release range ----------
@@ -557,8 +559,15 @@ jobs:
             COMMIT_MESSAGE=$(printf '%s' "$COMMIT_JSON" | jq -r '.commit.message // ""' 2>/dev/null || true)
             # Squash merges can separate this trailer from Co-authored-by
             # with a blank line, so inspect the complete commit message.
-            INITIATOR=$(printf '%s\n' "$COMMIT_MESSAGE" \
-              | sed -n 's/^Release-Triggered-By:[[:blank:]]*//p')
+            # Count before extraction: command substitution strips empty
+            # trailing values, which could hide an empty duplicate trailer.
+            INITIATOR_COUNT=$(printf '%s\n' "$COMMIT_MESSAGE" \
+              | grep -c '^Release-Triggered-By:' || true)
+            INITIATOR=""
+            if [ "$INITIATOR_COUNT" -eq 1 ]; then
+              INITIATOR=$(printf '%s\n' "$COMMIT_MESSAGE" \
+                | sed -n 's/^Release-Triggered-By:[[:blank:]]*//p')
+            fi
             # Accept a single GitHub login. Missing, malformed, duplicate,
             # or bot trailers fall through to the existing owner sources.
             if [[ "$INITIATOR" =~ ^[a-zA-Z0-9]([a-zA-Z0-9-]{0,37}[a-zA-Z0-9])?$ ]] && ! is_bot "$INITIATOR"; then
diff --git a/scripts/upstream-release/workflow.test.mjs b/scripts/upstream-release/workflow.test.mjs
index 6f17a36a..f6a53a5a 100644
--- a/scripts/upstream-release/workflow.test.mjs
+++ b/scripts/upstream-release/workflow.test.mjs
@@ -197,10 +197,15 @@ for (const annotated of [true, false]) {
 for (const message of [
   'Release v0.60.0',
   'Release v0.60.0\n\nRelease-Triggered-By: renovate',
+  'Release v0.60.0\n\nRelease-Triggered-By: Renovate',
+  'Release v0.60.0\n\nRelease-Triggered-By: StacklokBot',
   'Release v0.60.0\n\nRelease-Triggered-By: toolhive-release-app[bot]',
   'Release v0.60.0\n\nRelease-Triggered-By: app/toolhive-release-app',
   'Release v0.60.0\n\nRelease-Triggered-By: invalid login',
   'Release v0.60.0\n\nRelease-Triggered-By: alice\nRelease-Triggered-By: bob',
+  'Release v0.60.0\n\nRelease-Triggered-By: alice\nRelease-Triggered-By:',
+  'Release v0.60.0\n\nRelease-Triggered-By:\nRelease-Triggered-By: alice',
+  'Release v0.60.0\n\nRelease-Triggered-By: alice\nRelease-Triggered-By: \t',
   'Release v0.60.0\n\nDocumentation mentions Release-Triggered-By: alice',
 ]) {
   test(`falls back to the release PR merger for unusable metadata: ${JSON.stringify(message)}`, (t) => {
@@ -244,3 +249,23 @@ test('leaves the owner unresolved when all sources are bots', (t) => {
   assert.equal(meta.owner, null);
   assert.equal(meta.owner_source, null);
 });
+
+for (const source of ['releaseAuthor', 'merger', 'commitAuthor']) {
+  test(`rejects mixed-case bots in the ${source} fallback`, (t) => {
+    const meta = resolveOwner(t, {
+      message: '',
+      releaseAuthor: 'app/release-bot',
+      merger: 'app/release-bot',
+      commitAuthor: 'app/release-bot',
+      [source]: 'Renovate',
+    });
+    assert.equal(meta.owner, null);
+  });
+}
+
+test('preserves the case of a human initiator login', (t) => {
+  const meta = resolveOwner(t, {
+    message: 'Release v0.60.0\n\nRelease-Triggered-By: ChrisJBurns',
+  });
+  assert.equal(meta.owner, 'ChrisJBurns');
+});