diff --git a/.vscode/launch.json b/.vscode/launch.json
index daffc92..43ac76a 100644
--- a/.vscode/launch.json
+++ b/.vscode/launch.json
@@ -111,6 +111,16 @@
             "args": ["extract-changelog", "--out"],
             "program": "${workspaceFolder}/bin.js"
         },
+        {
+            "type": "pwa-node",
+            "request": "launch",
+            "name": "merge",
+            "skipFiles": [
+                "<node_internals>/**"
+            ],
+            "args": ["merge", "--target", "main", "--source", "next", "--verbose", "--force", "--clean", "--changelog", "--compact"],
+            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/bin.js"
+        }
         {
             "type": "pwa-node",
             "request": "launch",
diff --git a/lib/index.js b/lib/index.js
index 4770839..01d3a86 100644
--- a/lib/index.js
+++ b/lib/index.js
@@ -71,15 +71,6 @@ function groupBy(f, xs){
     return idx
 }
 
-function getVersionFromReleasePR(x){
-    return [x]
-        .filter(Boolean)
-        .map( x => x.title )
-        .flatMap( x => x.split('-') )
-        .map( x => x.trim() )
-        .find( x => semver.valid(x))
-}
-
 async function getPackageJSONVersion({ owner, repo }){
     let f; try {
         f = await octokit.rest.repos.getContent(
@@ -341,12 +332,7 @@ async function extractChangelog(options){
                 ,per_page: 2
                 ,page: 1
             })
-    } 
-    
-    let openBranches = 
-        lastRelease
-        ? await getRecentBranchesFromLastRelease({ owner, repo, lastRelease })
-        : []
+    }
 
     let lines = 
         lastRelease
@@ -416,7 +402,7 @@ async function extractChangelog(options){
     // this version is the published version + branch inferred versions
     // it ignores the version set in the PR description
     let nextVersion = 
-        await getNextVersion({ recentBranches: openBranches, version })
+        await getNextVersion({ recentBranches, version })
 
     let contributors = 
         [...new Set(recentBranches.map( x => x.user.login))]
@@ -737,11 +723,10 @@ async function merge(options){
     return null;
 }
 
-async function inferVersion({ owner, repo, lastRelease }){
+async function inferVersion({ owner, repo }){
     let versionTypes = {
         git: await getGitTagVersion({ owner, repo })
         ,npm: await getPackageJSONVersion({ owner, repo })
-        ,title: lastRelease && getVersionFromReleasePR(lastRelease)
         ,default: '0.0.0'
     }
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 573c0d3..d1f45dd 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "pr-release",
-  "version": "0.18.4",
+  "version": "0.18.7",
   "description": "Generate releases from pull request descriptions.",
   "main": "dist/pr-release.cjs",
   "module": "lib/index.js",