diff --git a/script/release-notes/index.js b/script/release-notes/index.js
index 523ff59d394..aff44ec0662 100755
--- a/script/release-notes/index.js
+++ b/script/release-notes/index.js
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ const getPreviousPoint = async (point) => {
   }
 }
 
-async function getReleaseNotes (range) {
+async function getReleaseNotes (range, explicitLinks) {
   const rangeList = range.split('..') || ['HEAD']
   const to = rangeList.pop()
   const from = rangeList.pop() || (await getPreviousPoint(to))
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ async function getReleaseNotes (range) {
 
   const notes = await notesGenerator.get(from, to)
   const ret = {
-    text: notesGenerator.render(notes)
+    text: notesGenerator.render(notes, explicitLinks)
   }
 
   if (notes.unknown.length) {
@@ -139,13 +139,15 @@ async function getReleaseNotes (range) {
 }
 
 async function main () {
-  if (process.argv.length > 3) {
-    console.log('Use: script/release-notes/index.js [tag | tag1..tag2]')
+  // TODO: minimist/commander
+  const explicitLinks = process.argv.slice(2).some(arg => arg === '--explicit-links')
+  if (process.argv.length > 4) {
+    console.log('Use: script/release-notes/index.js [--explicit-links] [tag | tag1..tag2]')
     return 1
   }
 
   const range = process.argv[2] || 'HEAD'
-  const notes = await getReleaseNotes(range)
+  const notes = await getReleaseNotes(range, explicitLinks)
   console.log(notes.text)
   if (notes.warning) {
     throw new Error(notes.warning)
diff --git a/script/release-notes/notes.js b/script/release-notes/notes.js
index 54f3fd64dc1..9d0768854d7 100644
--- a/script/release-notes/notes.js
+++ b/script/release-notes/notes.js
@@ -496,7 +496,28 @@ const getNotes = async (fromRef, toRef) => {
 ****  Render
 ***/
 
-const renderCommit = commit => {
+const renderLink = (commit, explicitLinks) => {
+  let link
+  const pr = commit.originalPr
+  if (pr) {
+    const { owner, repo, number } = pr
+    const url = `https://github.com/${owner}/${repo}/pull/${number}`
+    const text = owner === 'electron' && repo === 'electron'
+      ? `#${number}`
+      : `${owner}/${repo}#${number}`
+    link = explicitLinks ? `[${text}](${url})` : text
+  } else {
+    const { owner, repo, hash } = commit
+    const url = `https://github.com/${owner}/${repo}/commit/${hash}`
+    const text = owner === 'electron' && repo === 'electron'
+      ? `${hash.slice(0, 8)}`
+      : `${owner}/${repo}@${hash.slice(0, 8)}`
+    link = explicitLinks ? `[${text}](${url})` : text
+  }
+  return link
+}
+
+const renderCommit = (commit, explicitLinks) => {
   // clean up the note
   let note = commit.note || commit.subject
   note = note.trim()
@@ -535,21 +556,12 @@ const renderCommit = commit => {
     }
   }
 
-  // make a GH-markdown-friendly link
-  let link
-  const pr = commit.originalPr
-  if (!pr) {
-    link = `https://github.com/${commit.owner}/${commit.repo}/commit/${commit.hash}`
-  } else if (pr.owner === 'electron' && pr.repo === 'electron') {
-    link = `#${pr.number}`
-  } else {
-    link = `[${pr.owner}/${pr.repo}:${pr.number}](https://github.com/${pr.owner}/${pr.repo}/pull/${pr.number})`
-  }
+  const link = renderLink(commit, explicitLinks)
 
   return { note, link }
 }
 
-const renderNotes = notes => {
+const renderNotes = (notes, explicitLinks) => {
   const rendered = [ `# Release Notes for ${notes.ref}\n\n` ]
 
   const renderSection = (title, commits) => {
@@ -557,7 +569,7 @@ const renderNotes = notes => {
       return
     }
     const notes = new Map()
-    for (const note of commits.map(commit => renderCommit(commit))) {
+    for (const note of commits.map(commit => renderCommit(commit, explicitLinks))) {
       if (!notes.has(note.note)) {
         notes.set(note.note, [note.link])
       } else {
@@ -576,11 +588,7 @@ const renderNotes = notes => {
   renderSection('Other Changes', notes.other)
 
   if (notes.docs.length) {
-    const docs = notes.docs.map(commit => {
-      return commit.pr && commit.pr.number
-        ? `#${commit.pr.number}`
-        : `https://github.com/electron/electron/commit/${commit.hash}`
-    }).sort()
+    const docs = notes.docs.map(commit => renderLink(commit, explicitLinks)).sort()
     rendered.push('## Documentation\n\n', ` * Documentation changes: ${docs.join(', ')}\n`, '\n')
   }