diff --git a/bin/omarchy-update-available b/bin/omarchy-update-available
index f1a70b256ea..6360b4091a4 100755
--- a/bin/omarchy-update-available
+++ b/bin/omarchy-update-available
@@ -11,11 +11,22 @@ if [[ $OMARCHY_PATH != "/usr/share/omarchy" ]]; then
   if [[ -n $upstream ]]; then
     GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT=0 timeout 10 git -C "$OMARCHY_PATH" fetch --quiet 2>/dev/null || true
 
-    behind=$(git -C "$OMARCHY_PATH" rev-list --count "HEAD..$upstream" 2>/dev/null || echo 0)
-    if (( behind > 0 )); then
-      commit_label=commits
-      (( behind == 1 )) && commit_label=commit
-      updates+=("omarchy-dev-checkout $behind new $commit_label on $upstream")
+    # Only release tags count as updates; routine commits between releases
+    # should not light the update icon. Fall back to counting commits when the
+    # upstream branch carries no tags at all.
+    newest_release=$(git -C "$OMARCHY_PATH" describe --tags --abbrev=0 "$upstream" 2>/dev/null || true)
+
+    if [[ -n $newest_release ]]; then
+      if ! git -C "$OMARCHY_PATH" merge-base --is-ancestor "$newest_release" HEAD; then
+        updates+=("omarchy-dev-checkout new release $newest_release on $upstream")
+      fi
+    else
+      behind=$(git -C "$OMARCHY_PATH" rev-list --count "HEAD..$upstream" 2>/dev/null || echo 0)
+      if (( behind > 0 )); then
+        commit_label=commits
+        (( behind == 1 )) && commit_label=commit
+        updates+=("omarchy-dev-checkout $behind new $commit_label on $upstream")
+      fi
     fi
   fi
 fi
diff --git a/test/shell.d/update-available-release-test.sh b/test/shell.d/update-available-release-test.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..86e81542497
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/shell.d/update-available-release-test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -euo pipefail
+source "$(dirname -- "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/base-test.sh"
+
+stub_dir=$(mktemp -d)
+fixture=$(mktemp -d)
+trap 'rm -rf "$stub_dir" "$fixture"' EXIT
+
+# Keep the package half of the check quiet.
+printf '#!/bin/bash\nexit 1\n' >"$stub_dir/pacman"
+chmod +x "$stub_dir/pacman"
+
+commit() {
+  git -C "$1" -c user.email=test@test -c user.name=test commit -qm "$2" --allow-empty
+}
+
+# Bare origin + a seed clone that publishes to it + the checkout under test.
+git init -q --bare -b main "$fixture/origin.git"
+git init -q "$fixture/seed"
+commit "$fixture/seed" initial
+git -C "$fixture/seed" remote add origin "$fixture/origin.git"
+git -C "$fixture/seed" push -q origin HEAD:main
+git clone -q "$fixture/origin.git" "$fixture/work"
+
+run_check() {
+  OMARCHY_PATH="$fixture/work" PATH="$stub_dir:$PATH" "$ROOT/bin/omarchy-update-available" 2>&1
+}
+
+# 1. Behind upstream by commits only, but HEAD already contains the newest
+# release tag: no update.
+git -C "$fixture/seed" tag v1.0
+git -C "$fixture/seed" push -q origin v1.0
+git -C "$fixture/work" pull -q
+commit "$fixture/seed" later-1
+commit "$fixture/seed" later-2
+git -C "$fixture/seed" push -q origin HEAD:main
+output=$(run_check) && fail "update reported while newest release tag is contained in HEAD" || true
+grep -q "up to date" <<<"$output" || fail "unexpected output when no release is pending: $output"
+pass "commits past the newest release do not report an update"
+
+# 2. A new release tag lands upstream: update reported, named by tag.
+commit "$fixture/seed" release-1.1
+git -C "$fixture/seed" tag v1.1
+git -C "$fixture/seed" push -q origin HEAD:main --tags
+output=$(run_check) || fail "pending release tag not reported"
+grep -q "release v1.1" <<<"$output" || fail "update output does not name the release: $output"
+pass "a new upstream release tag reports an update"
+
+# 3. Upstream has no tags at all: fall back to commit count.
+git init -q --bare -b main "$fixture/tagless.git"
+git init -q "$fixture/tseed"
+commit "$fixture/tseed" a
+git -C "$fixture/tseed" remote add origin "$fixture/tagless.git"
+git -C "$fixture/tseed" push -q origin HEAD:main
+git clone -q "$fixture/tagless.git" "$fixture/twork"
+commit "$fixture/tseed" b
+commit "$fixture/tseed" c
+git -C "$fixture/tseed" push -q origin HEAD:main
+output=$(OMARCHY_PATH="$fixture/twork" PATH="$stub_dir:$PATH" "$ROOT/bin/omarchy-update-available" 2>&1) ||
+  fail "commit fallback did not report an update"
+grep -q "2 new commits" <<<"$output" || fail "commit fallback output unexpected: $output"
+pass "tagless upstream still reports behind-by-commits"
+
+# 4. Fully up to date: quiet.
+git -C "$fixture/work" pull -q
+output=$(run_check) && fail "up-to-date checkout reported an update" || true
+grep -q "up to date" <<<"$output" || fail "unexpected output when up to date: $output"
+pass "up-to-date checkout stays quiet"