diff --git a/lib/format-commit-message.js b/lib/format-commit-message.js
index 06b8702fe..b79ad2eb3 100644
--- a/lib/format-commit-message.js
+++ b/lib/format-commit-message.js
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 const util = require('util')
 
-module.exports = function (msg, newVersion) {
-  return String(msg).indexOf('%s') !== -1 ? util.format(msg, newVersion) : msg
+module.exports = function (rawMsg, newVersion) {
+  const message = String(rawMsg)
+  const matchCount = (message.match(/%s/g) || []).length
+  const args = Array(1 + matchCount)
+  args[0] = message
+  args.fill(newVersion, 1, args.length)
+  return util.format.apply(util, args)
 }