diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
index 3af8144b..fad8b377 100644
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -9,3 +9,5 @@ recursive-include eth_account/hdaccount/wordlist *txt
 
 recursive-exclude * __pycache__
 recursive-exclude * *.py[co]
+
+prune venv*
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0a3482ac..f2b304c8 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ notes: check-bump
 	# Let UPCOMING_VERSION be the version that is used for the current bump
 	$(eval UPCOMING_VERSION=$(shell bumpversion $(bump) --dry-run --list | grep new_version= | sed 's/new_version=//g'))
 	# Now generate the release notes to have them included in the release commit
-	towncrier --yes --version $(UPCOMING_VERSION)
+	towncrier build --yes --version $(UPCOMING_VERSION)
 	# Before we bump the version, make sure that the towncrier-generated docs will build
 	make build-docs
 	git commit -m "Compile release notes"
diff --git a/docs/release_notes.rst b/docs/release_notes.rst
index bb55ef37..9f0e141a 100644
--- a/docs/release_notes.rst
+++ b/docs/release_notes.rst
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@ Release Notes
 
 eth-account v0.5.7 (2022-01-27)
 -------------------------------
-Eth_Account 0.5.7 (2022-01-27)
-------------------------------
 
 Features
 ~~~~~~~~
diff --git a/newsfragments/168.misc.rst b/newsfragments/168.misc.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6dd16350
--- /dev/null
+++ b/newsfragments/168.misc.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Unpin Towncrier version to allow >=21.9.0, and exclude venv files from being distributed via MANIFEST.in
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index b318591e..c16f7a8d 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
     'doc': [
         "Sphinx>=1.6.5,<2",
         "sphinx_rtd_theme>=0.1.9,<1",
-        "towncrier>=19.2.0, <20",
+        "towncrier>=21.9.0",
     ],
     'dev': [
         "bumpversion>=0.5.3,<1",