diff --git a/scripts/update-changelog.ts b/scripts/update-changelog.ts
index 874af8f..fe7b2ba 100644
--- a/scripts/update-changelog.ts
+++ b/scripts/update-changelog.ts
@@ -250,12 +250,8 @@ function subjectsOnlyOn (ref: string): Set<string> {
 }
 
 /** Committer date of the commit a tag points at, as an ISO 8601 string. */
-function tagDate (ref: string): string | null {
-  try {
-    return execFileSync('git', ['log', '-1', '--format=%cI', ref], { encoding: 'utf8', maxBuffer: MAX_BUFFER }).trim() || null
-  } catch {
-    return null
-  }
+function tagDate (ref: string): string {
+  return execFileSync('git', ['log', '-1', '--format=%cI', ref], { encoding: 'utf8', maxBuffer: MAX_BUFFER }).trim()
 }
 
 function getCommitsSince (tag: Tag | null): Commit[] {
diff --git a/test/pack.test.ts b/test/pack.test.ts
index 3091a1e..00b211b 100644
--- a/test/pack.test.ts
+++ b/test/pack.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { mkdirSync, mkdtempSync, readFileSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs'
+import { mkdirSync, mkdtempSync, readFileSync, realpathSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs'
 import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
 import { resolve } from 'node:path'
 import process from 'node:process'
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ beforeEach(() => {
   env = { ...process.env }
   cwd = process.cwd()
   for (const key of PACK_ENV) delete process.env[key]
-  root = mkdtempSync(resolve(tmpdir(), 'uppt-pack-'))
+  root = realpathSync(mkdtempSync(resolve(tmpdir(), 'uppt-pack-')))
   outDir = resolve(root, 'out')
   process.env.PACK_OUT_DIR = outDir
   process.env.GITHUB_REF = 'refs/tags/v1.2.3'
diff --git a/test/update-changelog-main.test.ts b/test/update-changelog-main.test.ts
index 01e20ea..ec0933d 100644
--- a/test/update-changelog-main.test.ts
+++ b/test/update-changelog-main.test.ts
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ const git = {
   commits: [] as FakeCommit[],
   revList: [] as string[],
   divergedSubjects: [] as string[],
+  failDivergedSubjects: false,
   remote: 'git@github.com:owner/repo.git',
   branch: 'main',
 }
@@ -86,7 +87,10 @@ function stubGit () {
     if (sub === 'rev-parse') return args.includes('--abbrev-ref') ? git.branch : HEAD_SHA
     if (sub === 'rev-list') return git.revList.join('\n')
     if (sub === 'log' && args[1] === '-1') return '2024-01-01T00:00:00Z'
-    if (sub === 'log' && args.includes('--pretty=format:%s')) return git.divergedSubjects.join('\n')
+    if (sub === 'log' && args.includes('--pretty=format:%s')) {
+      if (git.failDivergedSubjects) throw new Error('bad revision')
+      return git.divergedSubjects.join('\n')
+    }
     if (sub === 'log') return record(...git.commits)
     throw new Error(`unexpected git call: ${args.join(' ')}`)
   })
@@ -216,6 +220,7 @@ beforeEach(() => {
   git.commits = [FEAT]
   git.revList = [FEAT.hash]
   git.divergedSubjects = []
+  git.failDivergedSubjects = false
   git.remote = 'git@github.com:owner/repo.git'
   git.branch = 'main'
 
@@ -269,6 +274,17 @@ describe('lockstep main', () => {
     expect(prBody()).not.toContain('cherry-picked')
   })
 
+  it('keeps every commit when the diverged-subject lookup fails', async () => {
+    const other: FakeCommit = { hash: 'b'.repeat(40), short: 'bbbbbbb', name: 'Bo', email: 'bo@example.com', subject: 'fix: cherry-picked (#8)' }
+    git.commits = [FEAT, other]
+    git.revList = [FEAT.hash, other.hash]
+    api.logins = new Map([['aaaaaaa', 'ada'], ['bbbbbbb', 'bo']])
+    git.divergedSubjects = [other.subject]
+    git.failDivergedSubjects = true
+    await main()
+    expect(prBody()).toContain('cherry-picked')
+  })
+
   it('cuts the commit range at the date of the previous tag', async () => {
     await main()
     const calls = execFileSync.mock.calls as Array<[string, string[]]>
diff --git a/test/update-changelog.test.ts b/test/update-changelog.test.ts
index 931d358..b81e8aa 100644
--- a/test/update-changelog.test.ts
+++ b/test/update-changelog.test.ts
@@ -551,6 +551,12 @@ describe('truncateBody', () => {
     expect(result).toMatch(/_Changelog truncated: it exceeded GitHub's 65536 character limit\._$/)
     expect(result.split('\n').at(-3)).toBe('- line 13')
   })
+
+  it('cuts mid-line when there is no line boundary to trim on', () => {
+    const result = truncateBody('x'.repeat(200), 100)
+    expect(result.length).toBeLessThanOrEqual(100)
+    expect(result).toMatch(/^x+\n\n_Changelog truncated: it exceeded GitHub's 65536 character limit\._$/)
+  })
 })
 
 describe('independent release PR', () => {