diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-and-release.yml b/.github/workflows/test-and-release.yml
index 4980df7..193dafe 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-and-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-and-release.yml
@@ -67,6 +67,18 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
         run: '[[ "$(date +%Y.%-m)" == "$(echo "${{ steps.version-increment.outputs.VERSION }}" | cut -d "." -f 1-2)" ]]'
 
+      - name: Test conventional commit increment version (with API)
+        id: version-increment-conventional
+        run: ./version-increment.sh
+        env:
+          current_version: 1.2.3
+          scheme: conventional_commits
+          use_api: 'true'
+
+      - name: Check conventional commit increment result
+        shell: bash
+        run: '[[ -n "${{ steps.version-increment-conventional.outputs.VERSION }}" ]]'
+
   test-action-yml:  # integration testing
     needs:
       - lint
diff --git a/tests/test_version-increment.bats b/tests/test_version-increment.bats
index 2aa5704..0cdbd73 100644
--- a/tests/test_version-increment.bats
+++ b/tests/test_version-increment.bats
@@ -282,6 +282,34 @@ function init_repo {
     [[ "$output" = *"VERSION=$(date +%Y.%-m.1)+pre.${short_ref}"* ]]
 }
 
+@test "uses the API commit message for conventional commits without a checkout" {
+    local no_checkout_dir="${BATS_TEST_TMPDIR}/no-checkout"
+    local mock_bin="${BATS_TEST_TMPDIR}/bin"
+
+    mkdir -p "${no_checkout_dir}" "${mock_bin}"
+    printf '%s\n' \
+        '#!/usr/bin/env bash' \
+        'printf "%s\n" "{\"commit\":{\"message\":\"feat: API-only change\"}}"' \
+        > "${mock_bin}/curl"
+    chmod +x "${mock_bin}/curl"
+
+    export PATH="${mock_bin}:${PATH}"
+    export current_version=1.2.3
+    export scheme="conventional_commits"
+    export use_api="true"
+    export github_token="test-token"
+    export GITHUB_REF="refs/heads/main"
+    export GITHUB_SHA="abcdef1234567890"
+    export GITHUB_API_URL="https://fake.github.example.com"
+    export GITHUB_REPOSITORY="gh-org/example"
+
+    run bash -c 'cd "$1" && version-increment.sh' -- "${no_checkout_dir}"
+
+    print_run_info
+    [ "$status" -eq 0 ] &&
+    [[ "$output" = *"VERSION=1.3.0"* ]]
+}
+
 @test "increments the patch version after a fix commit (conventional commits)" {
     init_repo
 
diff --git a/version-increment.sh b/version-increment.sh
index 9fef875..53419f5 100755
--- a/version-increment.sh
+++ b/version-increment.sh
@@ -63,7 +63,18 @@ fi
 ##  Conventional commits
 if [[ "${scheme}" == 'conventional_commits' ]] ; then
     # Get message from given commit
-    commit_message=$(git log -1 --pretty=format:%B "${git_commit_sha}")
+    if [[ "${use_api:-}" == 'true' ]] ; then
+        commit_message="$(
+            curl -fsSL \
+                -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
+                -H "Authorization: Bearer ${github_token}" \
+                -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \
+                "${GITHUB_API_URL}/repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}/commits/${git_commit_sha}" \
+            | jq -r '.commit.message'
+        )"
+    else
+        commit_message="$(git log -1 --pretty=format:%B "${git_commit_sha}")"
+    fi
 
     # Check commit message header
     found_match='false'