diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish.yml b/.github/workflows/publish.yml
index 12b38af..f968113 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish.yml
@@ -165,7 +165,8 @@ jobs:
         name: distribution
         path: dist
 
-    # The release says what release_notes/<version>.md says, or else what was written
+    # The release says what release_notes/<version>.md says, renamed from
+    # release_notes/unreleased.md in the commit bumping the version, or else what was written
     # when the tag was made, or else what GitHub generates from the merged pull requests.
     - name: '🏷️ Create the release'
       env:
diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index c137c1d..af62e19 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -46,10 +46,11 @@
 }
 
 
-# The release notes page, generated from release_notes/*.md, newest first
+# The release notes page, generated from release_notes/*.md: unreleased.md, then the releases, newest first
 _notes = ["Release notes", "=============", ""]
-for _path in sorted((ROOT / "release_notes").glob("*.md"), key=lambda path: Version(path.stem), reverse=True):
-    _title = _path.stem if Version(_path.stem) <= Version(release) else "Unreleased"
+_releases = sorted((ROOT / "release_notes").glob("[0-9]*.md"), key=lambda path: Version(path.stem), reverse=True)
+for _path in sorted((ROOT / "release_notes").glob("unreleased.md")) + _releases:
+    _title = _path.stem.capitalize()
     _notes += [_title, "-" * len(_title), "", f".. include:: ../release_notes/{_path.name}"]
     _notes += ["   :parser: myst_parser.sphinx_", ""]
 (ROOT / "docs" / "release_notes.rst").write_text("\n".join(_notes))
diff --git a/release_notes/0.2.0.md b/release_notes/unreleased.md
similarity index 100%
rename from release_notes/0.2.0.md
rename to release_notes/unreleased.md
diff --git a/tools/release.py b/tools/release.py
index 2242953..219516b 100644
--- a/tools/release.py
+++ b/tools/release.py
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@
     python tools/release.py version           print the version of pyproject.toml
     python tools/release.py validate          check that the version is a release version
     python tools/release.py validate --tag v1.2.3
-                                              check the tag against it as well
+                                              check the tag against it as well, and that
+                                              release_notes/unreleased.md was renamed
 """
 
 import argparse
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 
 PYPROJECT = Path(__file__).parent.parent.resolve() / "pyproject.toml"
+UNRELEASED_NOTES = PYPROJECT.parent / "release_notes" / "unreleased.md"
 
 # The versions a release may have: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH, optionally a pre-release of it.
 RELEASE_VERSION = re.compile(r"\d+\.\d+\.\d+(a\d+|b\d+|rc\d+)?")
@@ -55,6 +57,12 @@ def validate(tag) -> None:
             f"Expected the tag v{project_version}."
         )
 
+    if tag is not None and UNRELEASED_NOTES.exists():
+        raise SystemExit(
+            f"{UNRELEASED_NOTES} still exists. Rename it to release_notes/{project_version}.md "
+            "in the commit bumping the version."
+        )
+
     print(f"Version {project_version}" + ("" if tag is None else f", tagged {tag}"))