diff --git a/scripts/promote.sh b/scripts/promote.sh
index 233943c..b145780 100755
--- a/scripts/promote.sh
+++ b/scripts/promote.sh
@@ -22,5 +22,7 @@ git -C "$src" archive --format=tar "$tag" | tar -x -C "$pub"
 rm -rf "${pub:?}/.github"
 
 git -C "$pub" add -A
-git -C "$pub" commit -q -m "$msg"
+# --allow-empty: stable promotion re-tags the same source commit as the last beta, so the
+# extracted tree is byte-identical and there is nothing to stage — still produce a release commit.
+git -C "$pub" commit -q --allow-empty -m "$msg"
 git -C "$pub" tag "$tag"
diff --git a/scripts/promote.test.sh b/scripts/promote.test.sh
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index ab54c5a..4632a5d
--- a/scripts/promote.test.sh
+++ b/scripts/promote.test.sh
@@ -25,4 +25,12 @@ test ! -d "$work/pub/.github"      || { echo "FAIL: .github leaked to public"; e
 test -d "$work/pub/.git"           || { echo "FAIL: public .git clobbered"; exit 1; }
 git -C "$work/pub" rev-parse v1.0.0 >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "FAIL: tag missing"; exit 1; }
 git -C "$work/pub" log -1 --pretty=%s | grep -qx 'Release v1.0.0' || { echo "FAIL: commit message"; exit 1; }
+
+# Beta -> stable: stable re-tags the SAME source commit, so the extracted tree is byte-identical
+# to the last promotion. Promote a second tag (same tree) into the SAME pub repo and assert it
+# still creates the tag — guards against `git commit` aborting on "nothing to commit".
+git -C "$work/src" tag v1.0.1 v1.0.0
+bash "$here/promote.sh" "$work/src" v1.0.1 "$work/pub" "Release v1.0.1"
+git -C "$work/pub" rev-parse v1.0.1 >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "FAIL: identical-tree tag missing"; exit 1; }
+git -C "$work/pub" log -1 --pretty=%s | grep -qx 'Release v1.0.1' || { echo "FAIL: identical-tree commit message"; exit 1; }
 echo "PASS"