diff --git a/.github/workflows/backport.yml b/.github/workflows/backport.yml
index 9f3d39b..4cad74e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/backport.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/backport.yml
@@ -11,9 +11,13 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     container: hashicorpdev/backport-assistant:0.4.3
     steps:
+      - name: Configure git with a token that has sufficient privileges
+        run: |
+          git config --global url."https://${{ secrets.VAULT_ECO_GITHUB_TOKEN }}@github.com".insteadOf https://github.com
       - name: Backport changes to targeted release branch
-        run: backport-assistant backport
+        run: backport-assistant backport -merge-method=squash -gh-automerge
         env:
           BACKPORT_LABEL_REGEXP: "backport/vault-(?P<target>\\d+\\.\\d+\\.\\w+)"
           BACKPORT_TARGET_TEMPLATE: "release/vault-{{.target}}"
+          BACKPORT_MERGE_COMMIT: true
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.VAULT_ECO_GITHUB_TOKEN }}
\ No newline at end of file