diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 8b62d33..3d2ceb0 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ Unreleased
   checkpoints (#62).
 - Stop paginating pull requests during incremental backups once the sorted
   results are older than the active checkpoint.
+- Avoid extra release asset list requests by using asset metadata already
+  included in GitHub's releases response.
 - Add ``--token-from-gh`` to read authentication from ``gh auth token``.
 
 
diff --git a/github_backup/github_backup.py b/github_backup/github_backup.py
index f83bdb3..6edfb05 100644
--- a/github_backup/github_backup.py
+++ b/github_backup/github_backup.py
@@ -2919,7 +2919,12 @@ def backup_releases(args, repo_cwd, repository, repos_template, include_assets=F
             written_count += 1
 
         if include_assets and not skip_assets:
-            assets = retrieve_data(args, release["assets_url"])
+            # The releases list API already includes release asset metadata. Use
+            # it to avoid an extra /releases/{id}/assets request per release.
+            # Keep a fallback for older/enterprise responses that might omit it.
+            assets = release.get("assets")
+            if assets is None:
+                assets = retrieve_data(args, release["assets_url"])
             if len(assets) > 0:
                 # give release asset files somewhere to live & download them (not including source archives)
                 release_assets_cwd = os.path.join(release_cwd, release_name_safe)
diff --git a/tests/test_releases.py b/tests/test_releases.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b8584f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_releases.py
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+"""Tests for release backup behavior."""
+
+from github_backup import github_backup
+
+
+def test_backup_releases_uses_embedded_assets_without_extra_asset_list_request(
+    create_args, tmp_path, monkeypatch
+):
+    args = create_args(include_releases=True, include_assets=True)
+    repository = {"full_name": "owner/repo", "name": "repo"}
+    calls = []
+    downloads = []
+
+    def fake_retrieve_data(passed_args, template, query_args=None, paginated=True, **kwargs):
+        calls.append(template)
+        if template == "https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/releases":
+            return [
+                {
+                    "tag_name": "v1.0.0",
+                    "created_at": "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z",
+                    "updated_at": "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z",
+                    "prerelease": False,
+                    "draft": False,
+                    "assets_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/releases/1/assets",
+                    "assets": [
+                        {
+                            "name": "artifact.zip",
+                            "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/releases/assets/1",
+                        }
+                    ],
+                }
+            ]
+        raise AssertionError("Unexpected API request: {0}".format(template))
+
+    def fake_download_file(url, path, auth, as_app=False, fine=False):
+        downloads.append((url, path))
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(github_backup, "retrieve_data", fake_retrieve_data)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(github_backup, "download_file", fake_download_file)
+
+    github_backup.backup_releases(
+        args,
+        tmp_path,
+        repository,
+        "https://api.github.com/repos",
+        include_assets=True,
+    )
+
+    assert calls == ["https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/releases"]
+    assert downloads == [
+        (
+            "https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/releases/assets/1",
+            str(tmp_path / "releases" / "v1.0.0" / "artifact.zip"),
+        )
+    ]
+
+
+def test_backup_releases_falls_back_to_assets_url_when_assets_missing(
+    create_args, tmp_path, monkeypatch
+):
+    args = create_args(include_releases=True, include_assets=True)
+    repository = {"full_name": "owner/repo", "name": "repo"}
+    calls = []
+
+    def fake_retrieve_data(passed_args, template, query_args=None, paginated=True, **kwargs):
+        calls.append(template)
+        if template == "https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/releases":
+            return [
+                {
+                    "tag_name": "v1.0.0",
+                    "created_at": "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z",
+                    "updated_at": "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z",
+                    "prerelease": False,
+                    "draft": False,
+                    "assets_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/releases/1/assets",
+                }
+            ]
+        if template == "https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/releases/1/assets":
+            return []
+        raise AssertionError("Unexpected API request: {0}".format(template))
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(github_backup, "retrieve_data", fake_retrieve_data)
+
+    github_backup.backup_releases(
+        args,
+        tmp_path,
+        repository,
+        "https://api.github.com/repos",
+        include_assets=True,
+    )
+
+    assert calls == [
+        "https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/releases",
+        "https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/releases/1/assets",
+    ]