diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0524066..923a537 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -167,7 +167,8 @@ jobs:
           body_path: ${{ github.workspace }}-CHANGELOG.txt
           repository: my_gh_org/my_gh_repo
           # note you'll typically need to create a personal access token
-          # with permissions to create releases in the other repo
+          # with permissions to create releases in the other repo.
+          # A non-empty explicit token overrides GITHUB_TOKEN.
           token: ${{ secrets.CUSTOM_GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 ```
 
@@ -191,7 +192,7 @@ The following are optional as `step.with` keys
 | `fail_on_unmatched_files`  | Boolean | Indicator of whether to fail if any of the `files` globs match nothing                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
 | `repository`               | String  | Name of a target repository in `<owner>/<repo>` format. Defaults to GITHUB_REPOSITORY env variable                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
 | `target_commitish`         | String  | Commitish value that determines where the Git tag is created from. Can be any branch or commit SHA. Defaults to repository default branch.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
-| `token`                    | String  | Secret GitHub Personal Access Token. Defaults to `${{ github.token }}`                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
+| `token`                    | String  | Authorized GitHub token or PAT. Defaults to `${{ github.token }}`. A non-empty explicit token overrides `GITHUB_TOKEN`.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
 | `discussion_category_name` | String  | If specified, a discussion of the specified category is created and linked to the release. The value must be a category that already exists in the repository. For more information, see ["Managing categories for discussions in your repository."](https://docs.github.com/en/discussions/managing-discussions-for-your-community/managing-categories-for-discussions-in-your-repository)                                                     |
 | `generate_release_notes`   | Boolean | Whether to automatically generate the name and body for this release. If name is specified, the specified name will be used; otherwise, a name will be automatically generated. If body is specified, the body will be pre-pended to the automatically generated notes. See the [GitHub docs for this feature](https://docs.github.com/en/repositories/releasing-projects-on-github/automatically-generated-release-notes) for more information |
 | `append_body`              | Boolean | Append to existing body instead of overwriting it                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
diff --git a/action.yml b/action.yml
index cb49005..5174c47 100644
--- a/action.yml
+++ b/action.yml
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ inputs:
     description: "Repository to make releases against, in <owner>/<repo> format"
     required: false
   token:
-    description: "Authorized secret GitHub Personal Access Token. Defaults to github.token"
+    description: "Authorized GitHub token or PAT. Defaults to github.token. A non-empty explicit token overrides GITHUB_TOKEN."
     required: false
     default: ${{ github.token }}
   target_commitish: