diff --git a/cmd/krel/cmd/changelog.go b/cmd/krel/cmd/changelog.go
index 96e357e5035..ebc181a0581 100644
--- a/cmd/krel/cmd/changelog.go
+++ b/cmd/krel/cmd/changelog.go
@@ -62,7 +62,9 @@ the golang based 'release-notes' tool:
    announcement is done by another subcommand of 'krel', not "changelog'.
 
 3. Commit the modified CHANGELOG-x.y.md into the master branch as well as the
-   corresponding release-branch of kubernetes/kubernetes.
+   corresponding release-branch of kubernetes/kubernetes. The release branch
+   will be pruned from all other CHANGELOG-*.md files which do not belong to
+   this release branch.
 `,
 	SilenceUsage:  true,
 	SilenceErrors: true,
@@ -403,6 +405,11 @@ func commitChanges(repo *git.Repo, branch string, tag semver.Version) error {
 		return errors.Wrapf(err, "checking out release branch %s", branch)
 	}
 
+	// Remove all other changelog files
+	if err := repo.Rm(true, "CHANGELOG-*.md"); err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "unable to remove CHANGELOG-*.md files")
+	}
+
 	logrus.Info("Checking out changelog from master branch")
 	if err := repo.Checkout(git.Master, filename); err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "checking out master branch changelog")
diff --git a/pkg/git/git.go b/pkg/git/git.go
index 5d4934383ca..eda7da3a78c 100644
--- a/pkg/git/git.go
+++ b/pkg/git/git.go
@@ -693,3 +693,16 @@ func (r *Repo) CurrentBranch() (branch string, err error) {
 
 	return branch, nil
 }
+
+// Rm removes files from the repository
+func (r *Repo) Rm(force bool, files ...string) error {
+	args := []string{"rm"}
+	if force {
+		args = append(args, "-f")
+	}
+	args = append(args, files...)
+
+	return command.
+		NewWithWorkDir(r.Dir(), gitExecutable, args...).
+		RunSilentSuccess()
+}
diff --git a/pkg/git/git_integration_test.go b/pkg/git/git_integration_test.go
index f520eccf168..338fe109419 100644
--- a/pkg/git/git_integration_test.go
+++ b/pkg/git/git_integration_test.go
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ func newTestRepo(t *testing.T) *testRepo {
 		secondTagCommit:    secondTagRef.Hash().String(),
 		thirdTagName:       thirdTagName,
 		thirdTagCommit:     thirdTagRef.Hash().String(),
-		testFileName:       testFileName,
+		testFileName:       filepath.Join(sut.Dir(), testFileName),
 	}
 }
 
@@ -505,7 +505,7 @@ func TestCheckoutSuccess(t *testing.T) {
 	defer testRepo.cleanup(t)
 
 	require.Nil(t, ioutil.WriteFile(
-		filepath.Join(testRepo.sut.Dir(), testRepo.testFileName),
+		testRepo.testFileName,
 		[]byte("hello world"),
 		0o644,
 	))
@@ -513,7 +513,7 @@ func TestCheckoutSuccess(t *testing.T) {
 		testRepo.sut.Dir(), "git", "diff", "--name-only").Run()
 	require.Nil(t, err)
 	require.True(t, res.Success())
-	require.Contains(t, res.Output(), testRepo.testFileName)
+	require.Contains(t, res.Output(), filepath.Base(testRepo.testFileName))
 
 	err = testRepo.sut.Checkout(git.Master, testRepo.testFileName)
 	require.Nil(t, err)
@@ -597,3 +597,41 @@ func TestCurrentBranchMaster(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Nil(t, err)
 	require.Equal(t, git.Master, branch)
 }
+
+func TestRmSuccessForce(t *testing.T) {
+	testRepo := newTestRepo(t)
+	defer testRepo.cleanup(t)
+	require.Nil(t, ioutil.WriteFile(testRepo.testFileName,
+		[]byte("test"), 0o755),
+	)
+
+	require.Nil(t, testRepo.sut.Rm(true, testRepo.testFileName))
+
+	_, err := os.Stat(testRepo.testFileName)
+	require.True(t, os.IsNotExist(err))
+}
+
+func TestRmFailureForce(t *testing.T) {
+	testRepo := newTestRepo(t)
+	defer testRepo.cleanup(t)
+	require.NotNil(t, testRepo.sut.Rm(true, "invalid"))
+}
+
+func TestRmSuccess(t *testing.T) {
+	testRepo := newTestRepo(t)
+	defer testRepo.cleanup(t)
+
+	require.Nil(t, testRepo.sut.Rm(true, testRepo.testFileName))
+
+	_, err := os.Stat(testRepo.testFileName)
+	require.True(t, os.IsNotExist(err))
+}
+
+func TestRmFailureModified(t *testing.T) {
+	testRepo := newTestRepo(t)
+	defer testRepo.cleanup(t)
+	require.Nil(t, ioutil.WriteFile(testRepo.testFileName,
+		[]byte("test"), 0o755),
+	)
+	require.NotNil(t, testRepo.sut.Rm(false, testRepo.testFileName))
+}