diff --git a/hack/tools/go.mod b/hack/tools/go.mod
index abf655150d08..e994aadd172b 100644
--- a/hack/tools/go.mod
+++ b/hack/tools/go.mod
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5
 	github.com/valyala/fastjson v1.6.4
+	golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20230724220655-d98519c11495
 	golang.org/x/tools v0.9.3
 	google.golang.org/api v0.132.0
 	k8s.io/api v0.27.2
@@ -112,7 +113,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/subosito/gotenv v1.4.2 // indirect
 	go.opencensus.io v0.24.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/crypto v0.11.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/mod v0.10.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/mod v0.11.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/net v0.12.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/oauth2 v0.10.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/sys v0.10.0 // indirect
diff --git a/hack/tools/go.sum b/hack/tools/go.sum
index 771ff6460037..674ad0a4d125 100644
--- a/hack/tools/go.sum
+++ b/hack/tools/go.sum
@@ -519,6 +519,8 @@ golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20191227195350-da58074b4299/go.mod h1:2RIsYlXP63K8oxa1u0
 golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20200119233911-0405dc783f0a/go.mod h1:2RIsYlXP63K8oxa1u096TMicItID8zy7Y6sNkU49FU4=
 golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20200207192155-f17229e696bd/go.mod h1:J/WKrq2StrnmMY6+EHIKF9dgMWnmCNThgcyBT1FY9mM=
 golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20200224162631-6cc2880d07d6/go.mod h1:3jZMyOhIsHpP37uCMkUooju7aAi5cS1Q23tOzKc+0MU=
+golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20230724220655-d98519c11495 h1:zKGKw2WlGb8oPoRGqQ2PT8g2YoCN1w/YbbQjHXCdUWE=
+golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20230724220655-d98519c11495/go.mod h1:FXUEEKJgO7OQYeo8N01OfiKP8RXMtf6e8aTskBGqWdc=
 golang.org/x/image v0.0.0-20190227222117-0694c2d4d067/go.mod h1:kZ7UVZpmo3dzQBMxlp+ypCbDeSB+sBbTgSJuh5dn5js=
 golang.org/x/image v0.0.0-20190802002840-cff245a6509b/go.mod h1:FeLwcggjj3mMvU+oOTbSwawSJRM1uh48EjtB4UJZlP0=
 golang.org/x/lint v0.0.0-20181026193005-c67002cb31c3/go.mod h1:UVdnD1Gm6xHRNCYTkRU2/jEulfH38KcIWyp/GAMgvoE=
@@ -543,8 +545,8 @@ golang.org/x/mod v0.3.0/go.mod h1:s0Qsj1ACt9ePp/hMypM3fl4fZqREWJwdYDEqhRiZZUA=
 golang.org/x/mod v0.4.0/go.mod h1:s0Qsj1ACt9ePp/hMypM3fl4fZqREWJwdYDEqhRiZZUA=
 golang.org/x/mod v0.4.1/go.mod h1:s0Qsj1ACt9ePp/hMypM3fl4fZqREWJwdYDEqhRiZZUA=
 golang.org/x/mod v0.6.0-dev.0.20220419223038-86c51ed26bb4/go.mod h1:jJ57K6gSWd91VN4djpZkiMVwK6gcyfeH4XE8wZrZaV4=
-golang.org/x/mod v0.10.0 h1:lFO9qtOdlre5W1jxS3r/4szv2/6iXxScdzjoBMXNhYk=
-golang.org/x/mod v0.10.0/go.mod h1:iBbtSCu2XBx23ZKBPSOrRkjjQPZFPuis4dIYUhu/chs=
+golang.org/x/mod v0.11.0 h1:bUO06HqtnRcc/7l71XBe4WcqTZ+3AH1J59zWDDwLKgU=
+golang.org/x/mod v0.11.0/go.mod h1:iBbtSCu2XBx23ZKBPSOrRkjjQPZFPuis4dIYUhu/chs=
 golang.org/x/net v0.0.0-20180724234803-3673e40ba225/go.mod h1:mL1N/T3taQHkDXs73rZJwtUhF3w3ftmwwsq0BUmARs4=
 golang.org/x/net v0.0.0-20180826012351-8a410e7b638d/go.mod h1:mL1N/T3taQHkDXs73rZJwtUhF3w3ftmwwsq0BUmARs4=
 golang.org/x/net v0.0.0-20181023162649-9b4f9f5ad519/go.mod h1:mL1N/T3taQHkDXs73rZJwtUhF3w3ftmwwsq0BUmARs4=
diff --git a/hack/tools/release/notes.go b/hack/tools/release/notes.go
index 83fa935a3938..076bf5c54553 100644
--- a/hack/tools/release/notes.go
+++ b/hack/tools/release/notes.go
@@ -29,10 +29,13 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"regexp"
-	"sort"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
+	"unicode"
+	"unicode/utf8"
+
+	"golang.org/x/exp/slices"
 )
 
 /*
@@ -175,6 +178,10 @@ func getAreaLabel(merge string) (string, error) {
 	var areaLabels []string
 	for _, label := range pr.Labels {
 		if area, ok := trimAreaLabel(label.Name); ok {
+			if userFriendlyArea, ok := userFriendlyAreas[area]; ok {
+				area = userFriendlyArea
+			}
+
 			areaLabels = append(areaLabels, area)
 		}
 	}
@@ -183,13 +190,9 @@ func getAreaLabel(merge string) (string, error) {
 	case 0:
 		return missingAreaLabelPrefix, nil
 	case 1:
-		area := areaLabels[0]
-		if userFriendlyArea, ok := userFriendlyAreas[area]; ok {
-			area = userFriendlyArea
-		}
-		return area, nil
+		return areaLabels[0], nil
 	default:
-		return multipleAreaLabelsPrefix + strings.Join(areaLabels, "|") + "]", nil
+		return multipleAreaLabelsPrefix + strings.Join(areaLabels, "/") + "]", nil
 	}
 }
 
@@ -366,11 +369,8 @@ func run() int {
 			}
 		default:
 			fmt.Println("## " + key)
-			sort.Slice(mergeslice, func(i int, j int) bool {
-				str1 := strings.ToLower(mergeslice[i])
-				str2 := strings.ToLower(mergeslice[j])
-				return str1 < str2
-			})
+			slices.SortFunc(mergeslice, lessStringCaseInsensitive)
+
 			for _, merge := range mergeslice {
 				fmt.Println(merge)
 			}
@@ -509,3 +509,42 @@ func generateReleaseNoteEntry(c *commit) (*releaseNoteEntry, error) {
 func trimReleaseBackportMarker(title string) string {
 	return releaseBackportMarker.ReplaceAllString(title, "${1}")
 }
+
+// lessStringCaseInsensitive implements the Less signature for strings with case insensitivity.
+// It can be used with the standard library sort utils.
+func lessStringCaseInsensitive(a, b string) bool {
+	for {
+		rb, sizeB := utf8.DecodeRuneInString(b)
+		if sizeB == 0 {
+			// Since b is of size 0, the number of runes
+			// in a is greater than or
+			// equal to the number of runes in b, hence
+			// a is not less than b.
+
+			return false
+		}
+
+		ra, sizeA := utf8.DecodeRuneInString(a)
+		if sizeA == 0 {
+			// Since b is not of size 0 and a's size is 0,
+			// the number of runes in b is greater than
+			// the number of runes in a, hence
+			// a is less than b.
+			return true
+		}
+
+		rb = unicode.ToLower(rb)
+		ra = unicode.ToLower(ra)
+
+		if ra != rb {
+			return ra < rb
+		}
+
+		// Trim the runes we just compared and continue.
+		// This loop will continue until we either find
+		// a pair of runes that are different or we consume
+		// all the runes on one of the strings.
+		a = a[sizeA:]
+		b = b[sizeB:]
+	}
+}