diff --git a/hack/backfill.py b/hack/backfill.py
deleted file mode 100755
index 49b66d738..000000000
--- a/hack/backfill.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,44 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python3
-
-import functools
-import re
-
-import yaml
-
-
-SEMVER = re.compile('^(?P<major>0|[1-9]\d*)\.(?P<minor>0|[1-9]\d*)\.(?P<patch>0|[1-9]\d*)(?:-(?P<prerelease>(?:0|[1-9]\d*|\d*[a-zA-Z-][0-9a-zA-Z-]*)(?:\.(?:0|[1-9]\d*|\d*[a-zA-Z-][0-9a-zA-Z-]*))*))?(?:\+(?P<buildmetadata>[0-9a-zA-Z-]+(?:\.[0-9a-zA-Z-]+)*))?$')
-
-
-def version_key(v, minor):
-    match = SEMVER.match(v)
-    groups = match.groupdict()
-    v_minor = int(groups['minor'])
-    v_patch = int(groups['patch'])
-    if v_minor != minor:
-        v_patch = -v_patch
-    return (int(groups['major']), v_minor, v_patch, v)
-
-
-data = {}
-minors = [3, 4, 5, 6]
-weights = ['candidate', 'fast', 'stable']
-for minor in minors:
-    data[minor] = {}
-    for weight in weights:
-        with open('channels/{}-4.{}.yaml'.format(weight, minor)) as f:
-            data[minor][weight] = yaml.safe_load(f)
-
-for minor, next_minor in zip(minors, minors[1:]):
-    for weight in weights:
-        versions = set(data[minor][weight]['versions'])
-        versions.update(v for v in data[next_minor][weight]['versions'] if v.startswith('4.{}.'.format(minor)))
-        data[minor][weight]['versions'] = sorted(versions, key=functools.partial(version_key, minor=minor))
-
-        versions = set(data[next_minor][weight]['versions'])
-        versions.update(v for v in data[minor][weight]['versions'] if v.startswith('4.{}.'.format(minor)))
-        data[next_minor][weight]['versions'] = sorted(versions, key=functools.partial(version_key, minor=next_minor))
-
-for minor in minors:
-    for weight in weights:
-        with open('channels/{}-4.{}.yaml'.format(weight, minor), 'w') as f:
-            yaml.safe_dump(data[minor][weight], f, default_flow_style=False)
diff --git a/hack/stabilization-changes.py b/hack/stabilization-changes.py
index a9cc7c22f..ad83f0c17 100755
--- a/hack/stabilization-changes.py
+++ b/hack/stabilization-changes.py
@@ -315,28 +315,27 @@ def notify(message, webhook=None):
 
 
 def promote(version, channel_name, channel_path, subject, body, github_repo, github_token, upstream_remote, upstream_branch):
-    if not github_token:
-        raise ValueError('cannot promote without a configured GitHub token')
-
-    process = subprocess.run(['git', 'remote', 'get-url', '--push', upstream_remote], check=True, capture_output=True, text=True)
-    upstream_uri = urllib.parse.urlsplit(process.stdout.strip())
-    if upstream_uri.scheme != 'https':
-        raise ValueError('pushing by token requires HTTPS for security, so cannot use {} scheme {}'.format(upstream_remote, upstream_uri.scheme))
-    _, have_user_info, host_info = upstream_uri.netloc.rpartition('@')
-    if have_user_info:
-        raise ValueError('remote {} configured with user info is not supported, because we expect to authenticate with the configured GitHub token'.format(upstream_remote))
-    upstream_uri_with_token = urllib.parse.urlunsplit(upstream_uri._replace(netloc='{}@{}'.format(github_token, host_info)))
-
-    subprocess.run(['git', 'fetch', upstream_remote], check=True)
-    branch = 'promote-{}-to-{}'.format(version, channel_name)
-    try:
-        subprocess.run(['git', 'show', branch], check=True, capture_output=True, text=True)
-    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as error:
-        if 'unknown revision or path not in the working tree' not in error.stderr:
-            raise
-    else:
-        raise ValueError('branch {} already exists; possibly waiting for an open pull request to merge'.format(branch))
-    subprocess.run(['git', 'checkout', '-b', branch, '{}/{}'.format(upstream_remote, upstream_branch)], check=True)
+    if github_token:
+        process = subprocess.run(['git', 'remote', 'get-url', '--push', upstream_remote], check=True, capture_output=True, text=True)
+        upstream_uri = urllib.parse.urlsplit(process.stdout.strip())
+        if upstream_uri.scheme != 'https':
+            raise ValueError('pushing by token requires HTTPS for security, so cannot use {} scheme {}'.format(upstream_remote, upstream_uri.scheme))
+        _, have_user_info, host_info = upstream_uri.netloc.rpartition('@')
+        if have_user_info:
+            raise ValueError('remote {} configured with user info is not supported, because we expect to authenticate with the configured GitHub token'.format(upstream_remote))
+        upstream_uri_with_token = urllib.parse.urlunsplit(upstream_uri._replace(netloc='{}@{}'.format(github_token, host_info)))
+
+        subprocess.run(['git', 'fetch', upstream_remote], check=True)
+        branch = 'promote-{}-to-{}'.format(version, channel_name)
+        try:
+            subprocess.run(['git', 'show', branch], check=True, capture_output=True, text=True)
+        except subprocess.CalledProcessError as error:
+            if 'unknown revision or path not in the working tree' not in error.stderr:
+                raise
+        else:
+            raise ValueError('branch {} already exists; possibly waiting for an open pull request to merge'.format(branch))
+        subprocess.run(['git', 'checkout', '-b', branch, '{}/{}'.format(upstream_remote, upstream_branch)], check=True)
+
     with open(channel_path) as f:
         try:
             data = yaml.load(f, Loader=yaml.SafeLoader)
@@ -350,6 +349,12 @@ def promote(version, channel_name, channel_path, subject, body, github_repo, git
     with open(channel_path, 'w') as f:
         yaml.safe_dump(data, f, default_flow_style=False)
     message = '{}\n\n{}\n'.format(subject, textwrap.fill(body, width=76))
+
+    if not github_token:
+        pull = github.PullRequest
+        pull.html_url = 'data://no-token-so-no-pull'
+        return pull
+
     subprocess.run(['git', 'commit', '--file', '-', channel_path], check=True, encoding='utf-8', input=message)
     subprocess.run(['git', 'push', '-u', upstream_uri_with_token, branch], check=True)