diff --git a/hack/tools/release/notes.go b/hack/tools/release/notes.go
index 478571212365..9b59c4751326 100644
--- a/hack/tools/release/notes.go
+++ b/hack/tools/release/notes.go
@@ -501,6 +501,10 @@ func generateReleaseNoteEntry(c *commit) (*releaseNoteEntry, error) {
 	}
 
 	if *prefixAreaLabel {
+		position := strings.Index(entry.title, area+":")
+		if position != -1 {
+			entry.title = strings.TrimSpace(entry.title[position+len(area+":"):])
+		}
 		entry.title = fmt.Sprintf("- %s: %s", area, entry.title)
 	} else {
 		entry.title = fmt.Sprintf("- %s", entry.title)