diff --git a/.github/workflows/auto-merge.yml b/.github/workflows/auto-merge.yml
index 1f52d7d..5ad2ebb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/auto-merge.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/auto-merge.yml
@@ -17,11 +17,34 @@ jobs:
         with:
           github-token: "${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}"
 
+      - name: Check for major version bumps in PR body
+        if: steps.metadata.outputs.update-type == ''
+        id: check-major
+        env:
+          PR_BODY: ${{ github.event.pull_request.body }}
+        run: |
+          # Parse "from X to Y" version pairs from the PR body and flag major bumps.
+          HAS_MAJOR=false
+          while IFS= read -r line; do
+            from_ver=$(echo "$line" | sed -n 's/.*from \([0-9][0-9.]*\) to \([0-9][0-9.]*\).*/\1/p')
+            to_ver=$(echo "$line" | sed -n 's/.*from \([0-9][0-9.]*\) to \([0-9][0-9.]*\).*/\2/p')
+            [ -z "$from_ver" ] && continue
+            from_major="${from_ver%%.*}"
+            to_major="${to_ver%%.*}"
+            if [ "$from_major" != "$to_major" ]; then
+              echo "Major bump detected: $from_ver -> $to_ver"
+              HAS_MAJOR=true
+            fi
+          done <<< "$PR_BODY"
+          echo "has_major=$HAS_MAJOR" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
       - name: Approve PR
         if: >-
-          (contains(steps.metadata.outputs.update-type, 'version-update:semver-minor') ||
+          ((contains(steps.metadata.outputs.update-type, 'version-update:semver-minor') ||
           contains(steps.metadata.outputs.update-type, 'version-update:semver-patch')) &&
-          !contains(steps.metadata.outputs.update-type, 'version-update:semver-major')
+          !contains(steps.metadata.outputs.update-type, 'version-update:semver-major')) ||
+          (steps.metadata.outputs.update-type == '' &&
+          steps.check-major.outputs.has_major != 'true')
         run: gh pr review --approve "$PR_URL"
         env:
           PR_URL: ${{ github.event.pull_request.html_url }}
@@ -29,9 +52,11 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Enable auto-merge for minor and patch updates
         if: >-
-          (contains(steps.metadata.outputs.update-type, 'version-update:semver-minor') ||
+          ((contains(steps.metadata.outputs.update-type, 'version-update:semver-minor') ||
           contains(steps.metadata.outputs.update-type, 'version-update:semver-patch')) &&
-          !contains(steps.metadata.outputs.update-type, 'version-update:semver-major')
+          !contains(steps.metadata.outputs.update-type, 'version-update:semver-major')) ||
+          (steps.metadata.outputs.update-type == '' &&
+          steps.check-major.outputs.has_major != 'true')
         run: gh pr merge --auto --squash "$PR_URL"
         env:
           PR_URL: ${{ github.event.pull_request.html_url }}
diff --git a/languages/republication-tracker-tool.pot b/languages/republication-tracker-tool.pot
index d6f35f6..e184b21 100644
--- a/languages/republication-tracker-tool.pot
+++ b/languages/republication-tracker-tool.pot
@@ -2,14 +2,14 @@
 # This file is distributed under the same license as the Republication Tracker Tool plugin.
 msgid ""
 msgstr ""
-"Project-Id-Version: Republication Tracker Tool 2.8.0\n"
+"Project-Id-Version: Republication Tracker Tool 2.8.1\n"
 "Report-Msgid-Bugs-To: https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/republication-tracker-tool\n"
 "Last-Translator: FULL NAME <EMAIL@ADDRESS>\n"
 "Language-Team: LANGUAGE <LL@li.org>\n"
 "MIME-Version: 1.0\n"
 "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\n"
 "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\n"
-"POT-Creation-Date: 2026-02-03T18:46:30+00:00\n"
+"POT-Creation-Date: 2026-04-02T13:55:24+00:00\n"
 "PO-Revision-Date: YEAR-MO-DA HO:MI+ZONE\n"
 "X-Generator: WP-CLI 2.12.0\n"
 "X-Domain: republication-tracker-tool\n"
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index df3a173..9adf2ad 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -16318,9 +16318,9 @@
 			}
 		},
 		"node_modules/flatted": {
-			"version": "3.3.3",
-			"resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/flatted/-/flatted-3.3.3.tgz",
-			"integrity": "sha512-GX+ysw4PBCz0PzosHDepZGANEuFCMLrnRTiEy9McGjmkCQYwRq4A/X786G/fjM/+OjsWSU1ZrY5qyARZmO/uwg==",
+			"version": "3.4.2",
+			"resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/flatted/-/flatted-3.4.2.tgz",
+			"integrity": "sha512-PjDse7RzhcPkIJwy5t7KPWQSZ9cAbzQXcafsetQoD7sOJRQlGikNbx7yZp2OotDnJyrDcbyRq3Ttb18iYOqkxA==",
 			"dev": true,
 			"license": "ISC"
 		},
@@ -17317,9 +17317,9 @@
 			"license": "MIT"
 		},
 		"node_modules/handlebars": {
-			"version": "4.7.8",
-			"resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/handlebars/-/handlebars-4.7.8.tgz",
-			"integrity": "sha512-vafaFqs8MZkRrSX7sFVUdo3ap/eNiLnb4IakshzvP56X5Nr1iGKAIqdX6tMlm6HcNRIkr6AxO5jFEoJzzpT8aQ==",
+			"version": "4.7.9",
+			"resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/handlebars/-/handlebars-4.7.9.tgz",
+			"integrity": "sha512-4E71E0rpOaQuJR2A3xDZ+GM1HyWYv1clR58tC8emQNeQe3RH7MAzSbat+V0wG78LQBo6m6bzSG/L4pBuCsgnUQ==",
 			"dev": true,
 			"license": "MIT",
 			"dependencies": {
@@ -21053,9 +21053,9 @@
 			"dev": true
 		},
 		"node_modules/lodash-es": {
-			"version": "4.17.23",
-			"resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/lodash-es/-/lodash-es-4.17.23.tgz",
-			"integrity": "sha512-kVI48u3PZr38HdYz98UmfPnXl2DXrpdctLrFLCd3kOx1xUkOmpFPx7gCWWM5MPkL/fD8zb+Ph0QzjGFs4+hHWg==",
+			"version": "4.18.1",
+			"resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/lodash-es/-/lodash-es-4.18.1.tgz",
+			"integrity": "sha512-J8xewKD/Gk22OZbhpOVSwcs60zhd95ESDwezOFuA3/099925PdHJ7OFHNTGtajL3AlZkykD32HykiMo+BIBI8A==",
 			"dev": true,
 			"license": "MIT"
 		},
@@ -23645,9 +23645,9 @@
 			}
 		},
 		"node_modules/node-forge": {
-			"version": "1.3.2",
-			"resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/node-forge/-/node-forge-1.3.2.tgz",
-			"integrity": "sha512-6xKiQ+cph9KImrRh0VsjH2d8/GXA4FIMlgU4B757iI1ApvcyA9VlouP0yZJha01V+huImO+kKMU7ih+2+E14fw==",
+			"version": "1.4.0",
+			"resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/node-forge/-/node-forge-1.4.0.tgz",
+			"integrity": "sha512-LarFH0+6VfriEhqMMcLX2F7SwSXeWwnEAJEsYm5QKWchiVYVvJyV9v7UDvUv+w5HO23ZpQTXDv/GxdDdMyOuoQ==",
 			"dev": true,
 			"license": "(BSD-3-Clause OR GPL-2.0)",
 			"engines": {