diff --git a/packages/nx/release/changelog-renderer/index.ts b/packages/nx/release/changelog-renderer/index.ts
index 4d63ca0cc0a..404dc8a7c7b 100644
--- a/packages/nx/release/changelog-renderer/index.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/release/changelog-renderer/index.ts
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@ export interface DefaultChangelogRenderOptions extends ChangelogRenderOptions {
   authors?: boolean;
   /**
    * If authors is enabled, controls whether or not to try to map the authors to their GitHub usernames
-   * using https://ungh.cc (from https://github.com/unjs/ungh) and the email addresses found in the commits.
+   * using https://ungh.cc (from https://github.com/unjs/ungh) and, if needed, the GitHub search API via
+   * the gh CLI and the email addresses found in the commits.
    * Defaults to true.
    */
   applyUsernameToAuthors?: boolean;
diff --git a/packages/nx/src/command-line/release/utils/remote-release-clients/github.spec.ts b/packages/nx/src/command-line/release/utils/remote-release-clients/github.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..587e7534caa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/nx/src/command-line/release/utils/remote-release-clients/github.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+import { GithubRemoteReleaseClient } from './github';
+
+jest.mock('axios', () => ({
+  get: jest.fn(),
+}));
+
+jest.mock('node:child_process', () => ({
+  ...jest.requireActual('node:child_process'),
+  execFileSync: jest.fn(),
+  execSync: jest.requireActual('node:child_process').execSync,
+}));
+
+const axiosGetMock = jest.requireMock('axios').get as jest.Mock;
+const execFileSyncMock = jest.requireMock('node:child_process')
+  .execFileSync as jest.Mock;
+
+describe('GithubRemoteReleaseClient', () => {
+  const client = new GithubRemoteReleaseClient(
+    {
+      hostname: 'github.com',
+      slug: 'nrwl/nx',
+      apiBaseUrl: 'https://api.github.com',
+    },
+    false,
+    null
+  );
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    jest.resetAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  it('should prefer the username returned by ungh', async () => {
+    axiosGetMock.mockResolvedValue({
+      data: {
+        user: {
+          username: 'from-ungh',
+        },
+      },
+    });
+    const authors = new Map<string, { email: Set<string>; username?: string }>([
+      ['Test User', { email: new Set(['test@example.com']) }],
+    ]);
+
+    await client.applyUsernameToAuthors(authors);
+
+    expect(authors.get('Test User')?.username).toBe('from-ungh');
+    expect(execFileSyncMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it('should fall back to gh api when ungh does not return a username', async () => {
+    axiosGetMock.mockResolvedValue({
+      data: {
+        user: null,
+      },
+    });
+    execFileSyncMock.mockReturnValue(
+      JSON.stringify({
+        items: [{ login: 'from-gh' }],
+      })
+    );
+    const authors = new Map<string, { email: Set<string>; username?: string }>([
+      ['Test User', { email: new Set(['test@example.com']) }],
+    ]);
+
+    await client.applyUsernameToAuthors(authors);
+
+    expect(authors.get('Test User')?.username).toBe('from-gh');
+    expect(execFileSyncMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      'gh',
+      [
+        'api',
+        '--hostname',
+        'github.com',
+        '--method',
+        'GET',
+        'search/users',
+        '-f',
+        'q=test@example.com in:email',
+      ],
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        encoding: 'utf8',
+        stdio: 'pipe',
+        windowsHide: true,
+      })
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('should fall back to gh api when ungh fails', async () => {
+    axiosGetMock.mockRejectedValue(new Error('ungh unavailable'));
+    execFileSyncMock.mockReturnValue(
+      JSON.stringify({
+        items: [{ login: 'from-gh' }],
+      })
+    );
+    const authors = new Map<string, { email: Set<string>; username?: string }>([
+      ['Test User', { email: new Set(['test@example.com']) }],
+    ]);
+
+    await client.applyUsernameToAuthors(authors);
+
+    expect(authors.get('Test User')?.username).toBe('from-gh');
+  });
+
+  it('should leave the username unset when both lookups fail', async () => {
+    axiosGetMock.mockRejectedValue(new Error('ungh unavailable'));
+    execFileSyncMock.mockImplementation(() => {
+      throw new Error('gh unavailable');
+    });
+    const authors = new Map<string, { email: Set<string>; username?: string }>([
+      ['Test User', { email: new Set(['test@example.com']) }],
+    ]);
+
+    await expect(
+      client.applyUsernameToAuthors(authors)
+    ).resolves.toBeUndefined();
+    expect(authors.get('Test User')?.username).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/nx/src/command-line/release/utils/remote-release-clients/github.ts b/packages/nx/src/command-line/release/utils/remote-release-clients/github.ts
index 8c3a721b7b0..a9839d8d443 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/command-line/release/utils/remote-release-clients/github.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/command-line/release/utils/remote-release-clients/github.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import * as pc from 'picocolors';
 import { prompt } from 'enquirer';
-import { execSync } from 'node:child_process';
+import { execFileSync, execSync } from 'node:child_process';
 import { existsSync, promises as fsp } from 'node:fs';
 import { homedir } from 'node:os';
 import { orange, output } from '../../../../utils/output';
@@ -34,6 +34,18 @@ export interface GithubRemoteRelease {
   make_latest?: 'legacy' | boolean;
 }
 
+interface UnghUserLookupResponse {
+  user?: {
+    username?: string;
+  } | null;
+}
+
+interface GithubUserSearchResponse {
+  items?: Array<{
+    login?: string;
+  }>;
+}
+
 export const defaultCreateReleaseProvider: ResolvedCreateRemoteReleaseProvider =
   {
     provider: 'github',
@@ -169,18 +181,62 @@ export class GithubRemoteReleaseClient extends RemoteReleaseClient<GithubRemoteR
           const { data } = await axios
             .get<
               any,
-              { data?: { user?: { username: string } } }
+              { data?: UnghUserLookupResponse }
             >(`https://ungh.cc/users/find/${email}`)
             .catch(() => ({ data: { user: null } }));
-          if (data?.user) {
+          if (data?.user?.username) {
             meta.username = data.user.username;
             break;
           }
+          const usernameFromGhCli = this.resolveUsernameFromGhCli(email);
+          if (usernameFromGhCli) {
+            meta.username = usernameFromGhCli;
+            break;
+          }
         }
       })
     );
   }
 
+  private resolveUsernameFromGhCli(email: string): string | null {
+    const hostname =
+      this.getRemoteRepoData<GithubRepoData>()?.hostname ??
+      defaultCreateReleaseProvider.hostname;
+
+    try {
+      const stdout = execFileSync(
+        'gh',
+        [
+          'api',
+          '--hostname',
+          hostname,
+          '--method',
+          'GET',
+          'search/users',
+          '-f',
+          `q=${email} in:email`,
+        ],
+        {
+          encoding: 'utf8',
+          stdio: 'pipe',
+          windowsHide: true,
+        }
+      ).trim();
+
+      if (!stdout) {
+        return null;
+      }
+
+      const data = JSON.parse(stdout) as GithubUserSearchResponse;
+      return data.items?.[0]?.login ?? null;
+    } catch (error) {
+      if (process.env.NX_VERBOSE_LOGGING === 'true') {
+        console.error(error);
+      }
+      return null;
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * Get a release by tag
    */