diff --git a/.github/workflows/sync.yml b/.github/workflows/sync.yml
index 48184d49f..cd534821d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/sync.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/sync.yml
@@ -5,9 +5,6 @@ on:
     - cron: '0 0 1 * *'
   workflow_dispatch:
 
-permissions:
-  pull-requests: write
-
 jobs:
   sync-upstream:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -32,7 +29,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Fetch upstream & generate branch name & check for new commits
         id: check_commits
         env:
-          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SYNC_PAT }}
         run: |
           gh repo set-default ${{ github.repository }}  # Set the default repo to the origin repository
           git remote add upstream ${{ env.UPSTREAM }}
@@ -82,7 +79,7 @@ jobs:
         id: create_pr
         if: steps.check_commits.outputs.skip == 'false'
         env:
-          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SYNC_PAT }}
         run: |
           # Execute the generated PR creation script
           ./contrib/gh-pr-create.sh 
diff --git a/contrib/sync-upstream.sh b/contrib/sync-upstream.sh
index b3274040b..aaf8cb103 100755
--- a/contrib/sync-upstream.sh
+++ b/contrib/sync-upstream.sh
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ PR_BRANCH=$1
 range
 
 TITLE="Upstream PRs"
-BODY=""
+BODY="${GITHUB_ACTIONS+This PR has been created by a GitHub Actions workflow without human involvement.}"$'\n'
 for COMMIT in $COMMITS
 do
     PRNUM=$(git log -1 "$COMMIT" --pretty=format:%s | sed s/'Merge \(bitcoin-core\/secp256k1\)\?#\([0-9]*\).*'/'\2'/)