diff --git a/xtask/src/release.rs b/xtask/src/release.rs
index a3e2a2ad..7e97c1d0 100644
--- a/xtask/src/release.rs
+++ b/xtask/src/release.rs
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ impl ReleaseTask {
 
         let config = crate::Config::load()?.github;
 
-        let http_client = Client::new();
+        let http_client = Client::builder().user_agent("ruma xtask").build()?;
 
         Ok(Self { metadata, package, version, http_client, config, dry_run })
     }