diff --git a/.github/CONTRIBUTING.rst b/.github/CONTRIBUTING.rst
index cd6871452a2..dcd954648e6 100644
--- a/.github/CONTRIBUTING.rst
+++ b/.github/CONTRIBUTING.rst
@@ -108,6 +108,13 @@ Here's how to make a one-off code change.
 
         $ git add your-file-changed.py
 
+   - If your PR comes from a fork, create the chango fragment manually before pushing
+     (the chango workflow cannot auto-commit to fork branches):
+
+     .. code-block:: bash
+
+        $ uv run chango new --slug pr-1234-fix-telegram-api-error
+
    - Finally, push it to your GitHub fork, run:
 
      .. code-block:: bash
diff --git a/.github/workflows/chango.yml b/.github/workflows/chango.yml
index 0f14d8f819a..03f7980a8a5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/chango.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/chango.yml
@@ -43,7 +43,10 @@ jobs:
           # 2. it ensures that the push will also re-trigger workflows
           github-token: ${{ secrets.CHANGO_PAT }}
           query-issue-types: true
-          commit-and-push: ${{ steps.check_title.outputs.COMMIT_AND_PUSH }}
+          # Don't try to commit & push for PRs from forks - the action can't push to a fork's
+          # branch (no write access), which would fail the job. For fork PRs, contributors must
+          # add the chango fragment manually.
+          commit-and-push: ${{ steps.check_title.outputs.COMMIT_AND_PUSH == 'true' && github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository }}
 
       # Run `chango release` if applicable - needs some additional setup.
       - name: Set up Python