diff --git a/packages/project-management-automation/lib/add-first-time-contributor-label.js b/packages/project-management-automation/lib/add-first-time-contributor-label.js
index 68ef6c61e0bd9c..baadaf8c36e4c3 100644
--- a/packages/project-management-automation/lib/add-first-time-contributor-label.js
+++ b/packages/project-management-automation/lib/add-first-time-contributor-label.js
@@ -69,15 +69,15 @@ async function addFirstTimeContributorLabel( payload, octokit ) {
 		`add-first-time-contributor-label: Searching for commits in ${ owner }/${ repo } by @${ author }`
 	);
 
-	const {
-		data: { total_count: totalCount },
-	} = await octokit.search.commits( {
-		q: `repo:${ owner }/${ repo }+author:${ author }`,
+	const { data: commits } = await octokit.repos.listCommits( {
+		owner,
+		repo,
+		author,
 	} );
 
-	if ( totalCount !== 0 ) {
+	if ( commits.length > 1 ) {
 		debug(
-			`add-first-time-contributor-label: ${ totalCount } commits found. Aborting`
+			`add-first-time-contributor-label: Not the first commit for author. Aborting`
 		);
 		return;
 	}
diff --git a/packages/project-management-automation/lib/test/add-first-time-contributor-label.js b/packages/project-management-automation/lib/test/add-first-time-contributor-label.js
index dbd2d05da71383..10fe51fad781eb 100644
--- a/packages/project-management-automation/lib/test/add-first-time-contributor-label.js
+++ b/packages/project-management-automation/lib/test/add-first-time-contributor-label.js
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ describe( 'addFirstTimeContributorLabel', () => {
 		ref: 'refs/heads/master',
 		commits: [
 			{
+				id: '4c535288a6a2b75ff23ee96c75f7d9877e919241',
 				message: 'Add a feature from pull request (#123)',
 				author: {
 					name: 'Ghost',
@@ -42,14 +43,14 @@ describe( 'addFirstTimeContributorLabel', () => {
 		};
 
 		const octokit = {
-			search: {
-				commits: jest.fn(),
+			repos: {
+				listCommits: jest.fn(),
 			},
 		};
 
 		await addFirstTimeContributorLabel( payloadForBranchPush, octokit );
 
-		expect( octokit.search.commits ).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+		expect( octokit.repos.listCommits ).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
 	} );
 
 	it( 'does nothing if commit pull request undeterminable', async () => {
@@ -68,24 +69,25 @@ describe( 'addFirstTimeContributorLabel', () => {
 		};
 
 		const octokit = {
-			search: {
-				commits: jest.fn(),
+			repos: {
+				listCommits: jest.fn(),
 			},
 		};
 
 		await addFirstTimeContributorLabel( payloadDirectToMaster, octokit );
 
-		expect( octokit.search.commits ).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+		expect( octokit.repos.listCommits ).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
 	} );
 
-	it( 'does nothing if the user has commits', async () => {
+	it( 'does nothing if the user has multiple commits', async () => {
 		const octokit = {
-			search: {
-				commits: jest.fn( () =>
+			repos: {
+				listCommits: jest.fn( () =>
 					Promise.resolve( {
-						data: {
-							total_count: 100,
-						},
+						data: [
+							{ sha: '4c535288a6a2b75ff23ee96c75f7d9877e919241' },
+							{ sha: '59b07cc57adff90630fc9d5cf2317269a0f4f158' },
+						],
 					} )
 				),
 			},
@@ -96,20 +98,22 @@ describe( 'addFirstTimeContributorLabel', () => {
 
 		await addFirstTimeContributorLabel( payload, octokit );
 
-		expect( octokit.search.commits ).toHaveBeenCalledWith( {
-			q: 'repo:WordPress/gutenberg+author:ghost',
+		expect( octokit.repos.listCommits ).toHaveBeenCalledWith( {
+			owner: 'WordPress',
+			repo: 'gutenberg',
+			author: 'ghost',
 		} );
 		expect( octokit.issues.addLabels ).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
 	} );
 
-	it( 'adds the label if the user does not have commits', async () => {
+	it( 'adds the label if this was the first commit for the user', async () => {
 		const octokit = {
-			search: {
-				commits: jest.fn( () =>
+			repos: {
+				listCommits: jest.fn( () =>
 					Promise.resolve( {
-						data: {
-							total_count: 0,
-						},
+						data: [
+							{ sha: '4c535288a6a2b75ff23ee96c75f7d9877e919241' },
+						],
 					} )
 				),
 			},
@@ -123,8 +127,10 @@ describe( 'addFirstTimeContributorLabel', () => {
 
 		await addFirstTimeContributorLabel( payload, octokit );
 
-		expect( octokit.search.commits ).toHaveBeenCalledWith( {
-			q: 'repo:WordPress/gutenberg+author:ghost',
+		expect( octokit.repos.listCommits ).toHaveBeenCalledWith( {
+			owner: 'WordPress',
+			repo: 'gutenberg',
+			author: 'ghost',
 		} );
 		expect( octokit.issues.addLabels ).toHaveBeenCalledWith( {
 			owner: 'WordPress',
@@ -137,12 +143,12 @@ describe( 'addFirstTimeContributorLabel', () => {
 
 	it( 'aborts if the request to retrieve WordPress.org user profile fails', async () => {
 		const octokit = {
-			search: {
-				commits: jest.fn( () =>
+			repos: {
+				listCommits: jest.fn( () =>
 					Promise.resolve( {
-						data: {
-							total_count: 0,
-						},
+						data: [
+							{ sha: '4c535288a6a2b75ff23ee96c75f7d9877e919241' },
+						],
 					} )
 				),
 			},
@@ -158,8 +164,10 @@ describe( 'addFirstTimeContributorLabel', () => {
 
 		await addFirstTimeContributorLabel( payload, octokit );
 
-		expect( octokit.search.commits ).toHaveBeenCalledWith( {
-			q: 'repo:WordPress/gutenberg+author:ghost',
+		expect( octokit.repos.listCommits ).toHaveBeenCalledWith( {
+			owner: 'WordPress',
+			repo: 'gutenberg',
+			author: 'ghost',
 		} );
 		expect( octokit.issues.addLabels ).toHaveBeenCalledWith( {
 			owner: 'WordPress',
@@ -172,12 +180,12 @@ describe( 'addFirstTimeContributorLabel', () => {
 
 	it( 'prompts the user to link their GitHub account to their WordPress.org profile', async () => {
 		const octokit = {
-			search: {
-				commits: jest.fn( () =>
+			repos: {
+				listCommits: jest.fn( () =>
 					Promise.resolve( {
-						data: {
-							total_count: 0,
-						},
+						data: [
+							{ sha: '4c535288a6a2b75ff23ee96c75f7d9877e919241' },
+						],
 					} )
 				),
 			},
@@ -201,8 +209,10 @@ describe( 'addFirstTimeContributorLabel', () => {
 
 		await addFirstTimeContributorLabel( payload, octokit );
 
-		expect( octokit.search.commits ).toHaveBeenCalledWith( {
-			q: 'repo:WordPress/gutenberg+author:ghost',
+		expect( octokit.repos.listCommits ).toHaveBeenCalledWith( {
+			owner: 'WordPress',
+			repo: 'gutenberg',
+			author: 'ghost',
 		} );
 		expect( octokit.issues.addLabels ).toHaveBeenCalledWith( {
 			owner: 'WordPress',