diff --git a/.github/workflows/refresh-dictionary.yml b/.github/workflows/refresh-dictionary.yml
index 7f34392..b04bef7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/refresh-dictionary.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/refresh-dictionary.yml
@@ -2,16 +2,17 @@
 #
 # Wikimedia regenerates the Wiktionary tiếng Việt dump every month. This
 # downloads the current one, regenerates data/dictionary.txt from it — the
-# committed corpus the image is built from — and opens a pull request against
-# main, so a new month's words arrive as a diff someone reads before it ships.
+# committed corpus the image is built from — and commits it straight to main,
+# which deploys it. The commit is the month's diff of the word list.
 #
 # The dump run that starts on the 1st takes a few days to publish, hence the
 # 10th. The builder fails below its word, page and meaning-coverage floors, so
-# a broken month opens no pull request rather than a corpus with holes in it.
+# a broken month commits nothing rather than a corpus with holes in it. A month
+# whose dump matches the committed corpus commits nothing either.
 #
-# A pull request opened with GITHUB_TOKEN does not trigger ci.yml. The build
-# here already verifies the database it derives; the full suite runs when the
-# pull request is merged.
+# A push made with GITHUB_TOKEN does not trigger ci.yml. The build here
+# already verifies the database it derives; the full suite runs on the next
+# push to main.
 name: refresh-dictionary
 
 on:
@@ -21,7 +22,6 @@ on:
 
 permissions:
   contents: write
-  pull-requests: write
 
 concurrency:
   group: refresh-dictionary
@@ -46,37 +46,30 @@ jobs:
       - name: Regenerate the corpus
         run: make refresh-dict
 
-      # What the pull request body reports: the dump's date and hash from the
-      # corpus header, and how many words came and went.
-      - name: Summarize the change
-        id: summary
+      # The commit message reports the dump's date and hash from the corpus
+      # header, and how many words came and went.
+      - name: Commit and push
         run: |
           set -eu
+          if git diff --quiet -- data/dictionary.txt; then
+            echo "The corpus matches the current dump; nothing to commit."
+            exit 0
+          fi
           header() { sed -n "s/^#@$1 //p" data/dictionary.txt; }
           fetched="$(header source_fetched_at)"
           added="$(git diff -U0 -- data/dictionary.txt | grep -c '^+[^+#]' || true)"
           removed="$(git diff -U0 -- data/dictionary.txt | grep -c '^-[^-#]' || true)"
           words="$(grep -vc '^#\|^$' data/dictionary.txt)"
-          {
-            echo "date=${fetched%%T*}"
-            echo "body<<EOF"
-            echo "Regenerated \`data/dictionary.txt\` from the Wiktionary tiếng Việt dump of ${fetched}."
-            echo
-            echo "- Dump SHA-256: \`$(header source_sha256)\`"
-            echo "- Words in the corpus: ${words}"
-            echo "- Lines added: ${added}, lines removed: ${removed} (a word whose meanings changed counts as both)"
-            echo
-            echo "Opened by the monthly refresh-dictionary workflow. CI does not run on this pull request; the builder verified the database before exporting the corpus."
-            echo "EOF"
-          } >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          git config user.name 'github-actions[bot]'
+          git config user.email '41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com'
+          git add data/dictionary.txt
+          git commit -F - <<MSG
+          chore(data): refresh the dictionary from the ${fetched%%T*} dump
 
-      - name: Open the pull request
-        uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v8
-        with:
-          base: main
-          branch: dictionary-refresh
-          delete-branch: true
-          add-paths: data/dictionary.txt
-          commit-message: "chore(data): refresh the dictionary from the ${{ steps.summary.outputs.date }} dump"
-          title: "chore(data): refresh the dictionary from the ${{ steps.summary.outputs.date }} dump"
-          body: ${{ steps.summary.outputs.body }}
+          Regenerated data/dictionary.txt from the Wiktionary tiếng Việt dump of ${fetched}.
+
+          - Dump SHA-256: $(header source_sha256)
+          - Words in the corpus: ${words}
+          - Lines added: ${added}, lines removed: ${removed} (a word whose meanings changed counts as both)
+          MSG
+          git push origin HEAD:main
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c593944..102e300 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ The dictionary is committed as text: [`data/dictionary.txt`](./data/dictionary.t
 every word the builder accepted from the Wiktionary tiếng Việt dump, one per line with its
 meanings, and a header naming the dump and its SHA-256. Wikimedia regenerates the dump
 monthly, and the [`refresh-dictionary`](./.github/workflows/refresh-dictionary.yml) workflow
-opens a pull request against `main` with the new month's corpus on the 10th, so every change
+commits the new month's corpus to `main` on the 10th, so every change
 to the word list is a reviewable diff. To refresh by hand, `make fetch-dict` (downloads the
 ~61 MB dump) then `make refresh-dict`. Neither the dump nor `data/noitu.db` is committed. See
 [`data/ATTRIBUTION.md`](./data/ATTRIBUTION.md).
diff --git a/docs/deployment.md b/docs/deployment.md
index 8e5aa74..c9702a0 100644
--- a/docs/deployment.md
+++ b/docs/deployment.md
@@ -391,12 +391,13 @@ the dump it came from.
 
 [`refresh-dictionary.yml`](../.github/workflows/refresh-dictionary.yml)
 downloads the current dump on the 10th of every month, or on demand from the
-Actions tab, regenerates the corpus and opens a pull request against `main`.
-Merging it deploys the new words like any other change. The pull request does not trigger CI, because GitHub does not run
-workflows on a pull request opened with `GITHUB_TOKEN`; the builder verifies
-the database before exporting the corpus, and CI runs again on the merge.
+Actions tab, regenerates the corpus and commits it straight to `main`, which
+deploys the new words like any other change. A month whose dump matches the
+committed corpus commits nothing. The push does not trigger CI, because GitHub
+does not run workflows on a push made with `GITHUB_TOKEN`; the builder verifies
+the database before exporting the corpus, and CI runs again on the next push.
 GitHub disables scheduled workflows after 60 days without a commit to the
-repository, so re-enable it from the Actions tab if the pull requests stop.
+repository, so re-enable it from the Actions tab if the monthly commits stop.
 
 To refresh by hand, run `make fetch-dict` and `make refresh-dict`, then commit
 `data/dictionary.txt`.