diff --git a/docs/usage/configuration-options.md b/docs/usage/configuration-options.md
index d70a386391d..2d51fddf849 100644
--- a/docs/usage/configuration-options.md
+++ b/docs/usage/configuration-options.md
@@ -1772,6 +1772,32 @@ Renovate can fetch changelogs when they are hosted on one of these platforms:
 
 If you are running on any platform except `github.com`, you need to [configure a Personal Access Token](./getting-started/running.md#githubcom-token-for-changelogs-and-tools) to allow Renovate to fetch changelogs notes from `github.com`.
 
+You may use [package rules](#packagerules) to override the value of `fetchChangeLogs` for matching depeendencies, with later rules overriding earlier ones.
+
+The following re-enables fetching of changelogs when creating pull-requests for lodash updates.
+
+```json
+{
+  "fetchChangeLogs": "off",
+  "packageRules": {
+    "matchSourceUrls": ["https://github.com/lodash/lodash"],
+    "fetchChangeLogs": "pr"
+  }
+}
+```
+
+The following disables fetching of changelogs for any package in aws-sdk-go-v2,
+which can be time-consuming due to the repository's large number of tags:
+
+```json
+{
+  "packageRules": {
+    "matchSourceUrls": ["https://github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2{/**,}"],
+    "fetchChangeLogs": "off"
+  }
+}
+```
+
 <!-- prettier-ignore -->
 !!! note
     Renovate can only show changelogs from some platforms and some package managers.
diff --git a/docs/usage/key-concepts/changelogs.md b/docs/usage/key-concepts/changelogs.md
index 87fb0907437..0833346c133 100644
--- a/docs/usage/key-concepts/changelogs.md
+++ b/docs/usage/key-concepts/changelogs.md
@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@ For more details, see [Private packages, looking up changelogs](../getting-start
 
 ### [`fetchChangeLogs`](../configuration-options.md#fetchchangelogs)
 
+Top-level configuration that controls when to fetch changelogs for addition to pull-request and branch commit-messages.
+If you want more finely-grained control over changelog fetching (disabling for specific packages, source repositories, etc),
+use [packageRules](../configuration-options.md#packagerules) to override the `fetchChangeLogs` value for matching packages.
+
 Set to `off` if changelog fetching is causing a problem.
 
 Set to `branch` if you have an advanced use case where you're embedding changelogs in the Git commit itself, we don't recommend this due to its potential size.
@@ -40,7 +44,7 @@ This doesn't help with _fetching_ the changelogs, but if you configure it then R
 
 ## Platforms that Renovate can fetch changelogs from
 
-See the list of platforms in the [`fetchChangelogs` config option docs](../configuration-options.md#fetchchangelogs).
+See the list of platforms in the [`fetchChangeLogs` config option docs](../configuration-options.md#fetchchangelogs).
 
 ### Running Renovate on a non-GitHub platform
 
diff --git a/lib/config/options/index.ts b/lib/config/options/index.ts
index 43e95964b80..9baa8ae1650 100644
--- a/lib/config/options/index.ts
+++ b/lib/config/options/index.ts
@@ -3183,6 +3183,7 @@ const options: Readonly<RenovateOptions>[] = [
     allowedValues: ['off', 'branch', 'pr'],
     default: 'pr',
     cli: false,
+    parents: ['.', 'packageRules'],
   },
   {
     name: 'cloneSubmodules',
diff --git a/lib/types/index.ts b/lib/types/index.ts
index 84407e4c225..a27dbad103b 100644
--- a/lib/types/index.ts
+++ b/lib/types/index.ts
@@ -41,3 +41,16 @@ type Val = NonNullable<unknown>;
 export type Nullish<T extends Val> = T | null | undefined;
 
 export type MaybePromise<T> = T | Promise<T>;
+
+/**
+ * The Extends utility type ensures that U is a subset of T (typically a union).
+ * This helps ensure that we get a typescript error should anything ever be removed
+ * from T but still remain in U.
+ *
+ * @example
+ * type MyType = Extends<AutoMergeType, 'pr' | 'branch'>; // works
+ *
+ * @example
+ * type IsBroken = Extends<AutoMergeType, 'pr' | 'branch' | 'oh-no' >;  // This will give a typescript error
+ */
+export type Extends<T, U extends T> = U;
diff --git a/lib/util/package-rules/index.spec.ts b/lib/util/package-rules/index.spec.ts
index 43c346dea70..3f5d7b20038 100644
--- a/lib/util/package-rules/index.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/util/package-rules/index.spec.ts
@@ -1351,6 +1351,36 @@ describe('util/package-rules/index', () => {
     expect(res.packageName).toBe('docker.io/library/node');
   });
 
+  it('propagates fetchChangeLogs from matching packageRule', async () => {
+    const config: TestConfig = {
+      datasource: 'npm',
+      depName: 'some-dep',
+      packageRules: [
+        {
+          matchDatasources: ['npm'],
+          fetchChangeLogs: 'off',
+        },
+      ],
+    };
+    const res = await applyPackageRules(config);
+    expect(res.fetchChangeLogs).toBe('off');
+  });
+
+  it('does not set fetchChangeLogs when packageRule does not match', async () => {
+    const config: TestConfig = {
+      datasource: 'npm',
+      depName: 'some-dep',
+      packageRules: [
+        {
+          matchDatasources: ['pypi'],
+          fetchChangeLogs: 'off',
+        },
+      ],
+    };
+    const res = await applyPackageRules(config);
+    expect(res.fetchChangeLogs).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
   it('compiles sourceUrl with template helper functions', async () => {
     const config: TestConfig = {
       datasource: 'terraform-provider',
diff --git a/lib/workers/repository/changelog/index.spec.ts b/lib/workers/repository/changelog/index.spec.ts
index 447d63f24cf..7a7ba54e7b8 100644
--- a/lib/workers/repository/changelog/index.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/workers/repository/changelog/index.spec.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 import { partial } from '~test/util.ts';
+import type { FetchChangeLogsOptions } from '../../../config/types.ts';
 import type { BranchUpgradeConfig } from '../../types.ts';
 import { getChangeLogJSON } from '../update/pr/changelog/index.ts';
 import { embedChangelogs } from './index.ts';
+import type { SupportedChangelogStages } from './types.ts';
 
 vi.mock('../update/pr/changelog/index.ts');
 
@@ -21,7 +23,13 @@ describe('workers/repository/changelog/index', () => {
       partial<BranchUpgradeConfig>(),
       partial<BranchUpgradeConfig>({ changelogContent: 'testContent' }),
     ];
-    await expect(embedChangelogs(branches)).toResolve();
+    await expect(
+      embedChangelogs({
+        upgrades: branches,
+        stage: 'pr',
+        fetchChangeLogs: 'pr',
+      }),
+    ).toResolve();
     expect(branches).toEqual([
       { logJSON: null },
       { logJSON: { hasReleaseNotes: true } },
@@ -42,4 +50,148 @@ describe('workers/repository/changelog/index', () => {
       },
     ]);
   });
+
+  interface FetchChangeLogsTestCase {
+    fetchChangeLogs?: FetchChangeLogsOptions;
+    stage: SupportedChangelogStages;
+    expectations: () => void;
+  }
+
+  const testCases: FetchChangeLogsTestCase[] = [
+    {
+      stage: 'pr',
+      fetchChangeLogs: undefined, // should default to 'pr'
+      expectations: () => {
+        expect(getChangeLogJSON).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+        expect(getChangeLogJSON).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+          expect.objectContaining({
+            groupName: 'fetchChangeLogs is undefined',
+          }),
+        );
+        expect(getChangeLogJSON).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+          expect.objectContaining({ groupName: 'fetchChangeLogs is pr' }),
+        );
+      },
+    },
+    {
+      stage: 'pr',
+      fetchChangeLogs: 'pr',
+      expectations: () => {
+        expect(getChangeLogJSON).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+        expect(getChangeLogJSON).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+          expect.objectContaining({
+            groupName: 'fetchChangeLogs is undefined',
+          }),
+        );
+        expect(getChangeLogJSON).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+          expect.objectContaining({ groupName: 'fetchChangeLogs is pr' }),
+        );
+      },
+    },
+    {
+      stage: 'pr',
+      fetchChangeLogs: 'branch',
+      expectations: () => {
+        expect(getChangeLogJSON).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+        expect(getChangeLogJSON).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+          expect.objectContaining({ groupName: 'fetchChangeLogs is pr' }),
+        );
+      },
+    },
+    {
+      stage: 'pr',
+      fetchChangeLogs: 'off',
+      expectations: () => {
+        expect(getChangeLogJSON).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+        expect(getChangeLogJSON).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+          expect.objectContaining({ groupName: 'fetchChangeLogs is pr' }),
+        );
+      },
+    },
+    {
+      stage: 'branch',
+      fetchChangeLogs: undefined, // should default to 'pr'
+      expectations: () => {
+        expect(getChangeLogJSON).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+        expect(getChangeLogJSON).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+          expect.objectContaining({ groupName: 'fetchChangeLogs is branch' }),
+        );
+      },
+    },
+    {
+      stage: 'branch',
+      fetchChangeLogs: 'branch',
+      expectations: () => {
+        expect(getChangeLogJSON).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+        expect(getChangeLogJSON).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+          expect.objectContaining({
+            groupName: 'fetchChangeLogs is undefined',
+          }),
+        );
+        expect(getChangeLogJSON).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+          expect.objectContaining({ groupName: 'fetchChangeLogs is branch' }),
+        );
+      },
+    },
+    {
+      stage: 'branch',
+      fetchChangeLogs: 'pr',
+      expectations: () => {
+        expect(getChangeLogJSON).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+        expect(getChangeLogJSON).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+          expect.objectContaining({ groupName: 'fetchChangeLogs is branch' }),
+        );
+      },
+    },
+    {
+      stage: 'branch',
+      fetchChangeLogs: 'off',
+      expectations: () => {
+        expect(getChangeLogJSON).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+        expect(getChangeLogJSON).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+          expect.objectContaining({ groupName: 'fetchChangeLogs is branch' }),
+        );
+      },
+    },
+  ];
+
+  test.each(testCases)(
+    'stage is "$stage", top-level fetchChangeLogs is "$fetchChangeLogs"',
+    async ({ fetchChangeLogs, stage, expectations }) => {
+      vi.mocked(getChangeLogJSON).mockResolvedValue({
+        hasReleaseNotes: true,
+      });
+      const branches = [
+        partial<BranchUpgradeConfig>({
+          groupName: 'fetchChangeLogs is undefined',
+        }),
+        partial<BranchUpgradeConfig>({
+          groupName: 'fetchChangeLogs is pr',
+          fetchChangeLogs: 'pr',
+        }),
+        partial<BranchUpgradeConfig>({
+          groupName: 'fetchChangeLogs is branch',
+          fetchChangeLogs: 'branch',
+        }),
+        partial<BranchUpgradeConfig>({
+          groupName: 'fetchChangeLogs is off',
+          fetchChangeLogs: 'off',
+        }),
+      ];
+      await expect(
+        embedChangelogs({
+          upgrades: branches,
+          stage,
+          fetchChangeLogs,
+        }),
+      ).toResolve();
+
+      expectations();
+
+      // When fetchChangeLogs is explicitly set to 'off', no changelogs should be fetched.
+      expect(getChangeLogJSON).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        expect.objectContaining({ groupName: 'fetchChangeLogs is off' }),
+      );
+    },
+  );
 });
diff --git a/lib/workers/repository/changelog/index.ts b/lib/workers/repository/changelog/index.ts
index 6defd783bf7..2e3c0a2a3d8 100644
--- a/lib/workers/repository/changelog/index.ts
+++ b/lib/workers/repository/changelog/index.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
+import type { FetchChangeLogsOptions } from '../../../config/types.ts';
 import * as p from '../../../util/promises.ts';
 import type { BranchUpgradeConfig } from '../../types.ts';
 import { getChangeLogJSON } from '../update/pr/changelog/index.ts';
+import type { EmbedChangelogsOptions } from './types.ts';
 
 export async function embedChangelog(
   upgrade: BranchUpgradeConfig,
@@ -43,8 +45,30 @@ export async function embedChangelog(
   }
 }
 
-export async function embedChangelogs(
-  branches: BranchUpgradeConfig[],
-): Promise<void> {
-  await p.map(branches, embedChangelog, { concurrency: 10 });
+// Merges the top-level fetchChangeLogs value with the upgrade's fetchChangeLogs value (prioritizing the latter, if defined).
+function resolveFetchChangeLogs(
+  fetchChangeLogs?: FetchChangeLogsOptions,
+  upgradeFetchChangeLogs?: FetchChangeLogsOptions,
+): FetchChangeLogsOptions {
+  // Default to 'pr' if top-level fetchChangeLogs is undefined.
+  let fetchChangeLogsResolved: FetchChangeLogsOptions = fetchChangeLogs ?? 'pr';
+  if (upgradeFetchChangeLogs) {
+    // Override using the upgrade's fetchChangeLogs value.
+    fetchChangeLogsResolved = upgradeFetchChangeLogs;
+  }
+  return fetchChangeLogsResolved;
+}
+
+export async function embedChangelogs({
+  upgrades,
+  stage,
+  fetchChangeLogs,
+}: EmbedChangelogsOptions): Promise<void> {
+  // Filter down to branch upgrades that match the stage and fetchChangeLogs configuration.
+  const filteredUpgrades = upgrades.filter(
+    (upgrade) =>
+      resolveFetchChangeLogs(fetchChangeLogs, upgrade.fetchChangeLogs) ===
+      stage,
+  );
+  await p.map(filteredUpgrades, embedChangelog, { concurrency: 10 });
 }
diff --git a/lib/workers/repository/changelog/types.ts b/lib/workers/repository/changelog/types.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..37a178d72c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/workers/repository/changelog/types.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+import type { FetchChangeLogsOptions } from '../../../config/types.ts';
+import type { Extends } from '../../../types/index.ts';
+import type { BranchUpgradeConfig } from '../../types.ts';
+
+export type SupportedChangelogStages = Extends<
+  FetchChangeLogsOptions,
+  'branch' | 'pr'
+>;
+
+export interface EmbedChangelogsOptions {
+  upgrades: BranchUpgradeConfig[];
+  stage: SupportedChangelogStages;
+  fetchChangeLogs?: FetchChangeLogsOptions;
+}
diff --git a/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/index.spec.ts b/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/index.spec.ts
index 55d2abf25bd..558a28ce41c 100644
--- a/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/index.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/index.spec.ts
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ import type {
   BranchUpgradeConfig,
   CacheFingerprintMatchResult,
 } from '../../../types.ts';
+import * as _changelog from '../../changelog/index.ts';
 import * as _prAutomerge from '../pr/automerge.ts';
 import type { ResultWithPr } from '../pr/index.ts';
 import * as _prWorker from '../pr/index.ts';
@@ -79,6 +80,7 @@ const exec = vi.mocked(_exec);
 const sanitize = vi.mocked(_sanitize);
 const limits = vi.mocked(_limits);
 const repoCache = vi.mocked(_repoCache);
+const changelog = vi.mocked(_changelog);
 
 const adminConfig: RepoGlobalConfig = { localDir: '', cacheDir: '' };
 
@@ -1223,6 +1225,26 @@ describe('workers/repository/update/branch/index', () => {
       });
     });
 
+    it('fetches changelogs for the "branch" stage', async () => {
+      getUpdated.getUpdatedPackageFiles.mockResolvedValueOnce(
+        partial<PackageFilesResult>({
+          updatedPackageFiles: [partial<FileChange>()],
+        }),
+      );
+      npmPostExtract.getAdditionalFiles.mockResolvedValueOnce({
+        artifactErrors: [],
+        updatedArtifacts: [partial<FileChange>()],
+      });
+
+      await branchWorker.processBranch({ ...config });
+
+      expect(changelog.embedChangelogs).toHaveBeenCalledExactlyOnceWith({
+        upgrades: config.upgrades,
+        stage: 'branch',
+        fetchChangeLogs: config.fetchChangeLogs,
+      });
+    });
+
     it('ensures PR and tries automerge', async () => {
       getUpdated.getUpdatedPackageFiles.mockResolvedValueOnce(
         partial<PackageFilesResult>({
diff --git a/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/index.ts b/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/index.ts
index 15a2eda02f0..3e13064ba8e 100644
--- a/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/index.ts
+++ b/lib/workers/repository/update/branch/index.ts
@@ -648,9 +648,12 @@ export async function processBranch(
       } else {
         logger.debug('No updated lock files in branch');
       }
-      if (config.fetchChangeLogs === 'branch') {
-        await embedChangelogs(config.upgrades);
-      }
+
+      await embedChangelogs({
+        upgrades: config.upgrades,
+        stage: 'branch',
+        fetchChangeLogs: config.fetchChangeLogs,
+      });
 
       const postUpgradeCommandResults =
         await executePostUpgradeCommands(config);
diff --git a/lib/workers/repository/update/pr/index.spec.ts b/lib/workers/repository/update/pr/index.spec.ts
index ab21bc2ff7f..08af0e95c24 100644
--- a/lib/workers/repository/update/pr/index.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/workers/repository/update/pr/index.spec.ts
@@ -95,6 +95,18 @@ describe('workers/repository/update/pr/index', () => {
         expect(prCache.setPrCache).toHaveBeenCalled();
       });
 
+      it('fetches changelogs for the "pr" stage', async () => {
+        platform.createPr.mockResolvedValueOnce(pr);
+
+        await ensurePr(config);
+
+        expect(embedChangelogs).toHaveBeenCalledExactlyOnceWith({
+          upgrades: config.upgrades,
+          stage: 'pr',
+          fetchChangeLogs: config.fetchChangeLogs,
+        });
+      });
+
       it('aborts PR creation once limit is exceeded', async () => {
         platform.createPr.mockResolvedValueOnce(pr);
         limits.isLimitReached.mockReturnValueOnce(true);
diff --git a/lib/workers/repository/update/pr/index.ts b/lib/workers/repository/update/pr/index.ts
index 7be0c2c83d9..ad21ca5daa0 100644
--- a/lib/workers/repository/update/pr/index.ts
+++ b/lib/workers/repository/update/pr/index.ts
@@ -285,10 +285,12 @@ export async function ensurePr(
     }`;
   }
 
-  if (config.fetchChangeLogs === 'pr') {
-    // fetch changelogs when not already done;
-    await embedChangelogs(upgrades);
-  }
+  // fetch changelogs for matching upgrades.
+  await embedChangelogs({
+    upgrades: upgrades,
+    stage: 'pr',
+    fetchChangeLogs: config.fetchChangeLogs,
+  });
 
   // Get changelog and then generate template strings
   for (const upgrade of upgrades) {
diff --git a/test/docs/documentation.spec.ts b/test/docs/documentation.spec.ts
index 8bf43c17d8f..ef1b9bfb8d5 100644
--- a/test/docs/documentation.spec.ts
+++ b/test/docs/documentation.spec.ts
@@ -48,19 +48,25 @@ describe('docs/documentation', () => {
         const matches = content.match(/\n## (.*?)\n/g) ?? [];
         return matches
           .map((match) => match.substring(4, match.length - 1))
-          .filter(
-            (header) =>
-              header !== 'managerFilePatterns' && header !== 'enabled',
-          );
+          .filter((header) => header !== 'managerFilePatterns');
       }
 
       function getRequiredConfigOptions(): string[] {
-        return options
-          .filter((option) => !option.globalOnly)
-          .filter((option) => !option.parents)
-          .filter((option) => !option.autogenerated)
-          .map((option) => option.name)
-          .sort();
+        return (
+          options
+            .filter((option) => !option.globalOnly)
+            // Only include top-level options, which have no parents (implicit root) or explicitly define the
+            // root ('.') as their parent.
+            .filter(
+              (option) =>
+                !option.parents ||
+                option.parents.length === 0 ||
+                option.parents.includes('.'),
+            )
+            .filter((option) => !option.autogenerated)
+            .map((option) => option.name)
+            .sort()
+        );
       }
 
       it('has doc headers sorted alphabetically', async () => {
@@ -84,21 +90,25 @@ describe('docs/documentation', () => {
       }
 
       function getRequiredConfigSubOptions(): string[] {
-        return options
-          .filter((option) => option.stage !== 'global')
-          .filter((option) => !option.globalOnly)
-          .filter((option) => option.parents)
-          .filter(
-            (option) =>
-              option.name !== 'managerFilePatterns' &&
-              option.name !== 'enabled',
-          )
-          .flatMap((option) =>
-            (option.parents ?? [])
-              .filter((parent) => parent !== '.')
-              .map((parent) => `${parent}.${option.name}`),
-          )
-          .sort();
+        return (
+          options
+            .filter((option) => option.stage !== 'global')
+            .filter((option) => !option.globalOnly)
+            // Only include true sub-options: options which have parents but none of those are explicitly the root ('.').
+            .filter(
+              (option) =>
+                option.parents &&
+                option.parents.length > 0 &&
+                !option.parents.includes('.'),
+            )
+            .filter((option) => option.name !== 'managerFilePatterns')
+            .flatMap((option) =>
+              (option.parents ?? [])
+                .filter((parent) => parent !== '.')
+                .map((parent) => `${parent}.${option.name}`),
+            )
+            .sort()
+        );
       }
 
       function getParentNames(): Set<string> {