diff --git a/src/GitVersion.Core.Tests/VersionCalculation/Strategies/MergeMessageBaseVersionStrategyTests.cs b/src/GitVersion.Core.Tests/VersionCalculation/Strategies/MergeMessageBaseVersionStrategyTests.cs
index 4911d9ac11..550e20ce28 100644
--- a/src/GitVersion.Core.Tests/VersionCalculation/Strategies/MergeMessageBaseVersionStrategyTests.cs
+++ b/src/GitVersion.Core.Tests/VersionCalculation/Strategies/MergeMessageBaseVersionStrategyTests.cs
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ public void ShouldNotAllowIncrementOfVersion()
     [TestCase("Merge branch 'Release-v0.2.0'", true, "0.2.0")]
     [TestCase("Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/release/0.8.0' into develop/" + MainBranch, true, "0.8.0")]
     [TestCase("Merge remote-tracking branch 'refs/remotes/origin/release/2.0.0'", true, "2.0.0")]
+    [TestCase("Merge branch 'Releases/0.2.0'", false, "0.2.0")] // Support Squash Commits
     public void TakesVersionFromMergeOfReleaseBranch(string message, bool isMergeCommit, string expectedVersion)
     {
         var parents = GetParents(isMergeCommit);
@@ -81,15 +82,19 @@ public void TakesVersionFromMergeOfReleaseBranch(string message, bool isMergeCom
     [TestCase("Finish 0.14.1", true)] // Don't support Syntevo SmartGit/Hg's Gitflow merge commit messages for finishing a 'Hotfix' branch
     public void ShouldNotTakeVersionFromMergeOfNonReleaseBranch(string message, bool isMergeCommit)
     {
+        var configurationBuilder = GitFlowConfigurationBuilder.New;
+        configurationBuilder.WithBranch("hotfix", builder => builder.WithIsReleaseBranch(false));
+        ConfigurationHelper configurationHelper = new(configurationBuilder.Build());
+        var configurationDictionary = configurationHelper.Dictionary;
         var parents = GetParents(isMergeCommit);
-        AssertMergeMessage(message, null, parents);
-        AssertMergeMessage(message + " ", null, parents);
-        AssertMergeMessage(message + "\r ", null, parents);
-        AssertMergeMessage(message + "\r", null, parents);
-        AssertMergeMessage(message + "\r\n", null, parents);
-        AssertMergeMessage(message + "\r\n ", null, parents);
-        AssertMergeMessage(message + "\n", null, parents);
-        AssertMergeMessage(message + "\n ", null, parents);
+        AssertMergeMessage(message, null, parents, configurationDictionary);
+        AssertMergeMessage(message + " ", null, parents, configurationDictionary);
+        AssertMergeMessage(message + "\r ", null, parents, configurationDictionary);
+        AssertMergeMessage(message + "\r", null, parents, configurationDictionary);
+        AssertMergeMessage(message + "\r\n", null, parents, configurationDictionary);
+        AssertMergeMessage(message + "\r\n ", null, parents, configurationDictionary);
+        AssertMergeMessage(message + "\n", null, parents, configurationDictionary);
+        AssertMergeMessage(message + "\n ", null, parents, configurationDictionary);
     }
 
     [TestCase("Merge pull request #165 from organization/Particular/release-1.0.0", true)]
diff --git a/src/GitVersion.Core/MergeMessage.cs b/src/GitVersion.Core/MergeMessage.cs
index 0750d5aedc..57c2d1bb17 100644
--- a/src/GitVersion.Core/MergeMessage.cs
+++ b/src/GitVersion.Core/MergeMessage.cs
@@ -96,13 +96,16 @@ public static bool TryParse(
         mergeCommit.NotNull();
         configuration.NotNull();
 
-        mergeMessage = null;
+        mergeMessage = new(mergeCommit.Message, configuration);
 
-        if (mergeCommit.IsMergeCommit)
+        var isReleaseBranch = mergeMessage.MergedBranch != null && configuration.IsReleaseBranch(mergeMessage.MergedBranch);
+        var isValidMergeCommit = mergeCommit.IsMergeCommit || isReleaseBranch;
+
+        if (!isValidMergeCommit)
         {
-            mergeMessage = new(mergeCommit.Message, configuration);
+            mergeMessage = null;
         }
 
-        return mergeMessage != null;
+        return isValidMergeCommit;
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/GitVersion.Core/VersionCalculation/VersionSearchStrategies/MergeMessageVersionStrategy.cs b/src/GitVersion.Core/VersionCalculation/VersionSearchStrategies/MergeMessageVersionStrategy.cs
index 9ea12dded1..79fed3ac22 100644
--- a/src/GitVersion.Core/VersionCalculation/VersionSearchStrategies/MergeMessageVersionStrategy.cs
+++ b/src/GitVersion.Core/VersionCalculation/VersionSearchStrategies/MergeMessageVersionStrategy.cs
@@ -67,14 +67,8 @@ private static bool TryParse(ICommit mergeCommit, GitVersionContext context, [No
         return mergeMessage != null;
     }
 
-    private static MergeMessage? Inner(ICommit mergeCommit, GitVersionContext context)
-    {
-        if (mergeCommit.Parents.Count() < 2)
-        {
-            return null;
-        }
-
-        var mergeMessage = new MergeMessage(mergeCommit.Message, context.Configuration);
-        return mergeMessage;
-    }
+    private static MergeMessage? Inner(ICommit mergeCommit, GitVersionContext context) =>
+        MergeMessage.TryParse(mergeCommit, context.Configuration, out MergeMessage? mergeMessage)
+            ? mergeMessage
+            : null;
 }