--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2012-03-20  Reuben Thomas  <rrt@sc3d.org>
+
+	README-release: simplify slightly
+	* top/README-release: Run "git checkout master" only once.
+
 2012-03-15  Mark Wielaard  <mark@klomp.org>
 
 	git-merge-changelog: add specific example on how to use with hg.

--- a/top/README-release
+++ b/top/README-release
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Here are most of the steps we (maintainers) follow when making a release.
 
-* Start from a clean, up-to-date git directory:
+* Start from a clean, up-to-date git directory on "master":
 
     make -k maintainer-clean || { ./configure && make maintainer-clean; }
     git checkout master
@@ -10,10 +10,10 @@
   are in your PATH.  See the buildreq list in bootstrap.conf for
   the complete list of tools.
 
-* Ensure that you're on "master" with no uncommitted diffs.
-  This should produce no output:
+* Ensure that you have no uncommitted diffs.  This should produce no
+  output:
 
-    git checkout master; git diff
+    git diff
 
 * Ensure that you've pushed all changes that belong in the release: