diff --git a/.github/workflows/selftest.yml b/.github/workflows/selftest.yml
index 689a4b8..9be2fb3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/selftest.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/selftest.yml
@@ -9,6 +9,15 @@ permissions:
   contents: read
 
 jobs:
+  require-file-change:
+    name: require-file-change
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Check out repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      - name: Run self-test
+        run: require-file-change/test.sh
+
   check-diff:
     name: check-diff
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
diff --git a/require-file-change/README.md b/require-file-change/README.md
index f79c6a9..4987f90 100644
--- a/require-file-change/README.md
+++ b/require-file-change/README.md
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 # require-file-change GitHub Action
 
-This is a GitHub Action that fails unless a PR has changed a specific file or (optionally) has a specific label.
+This is a GitHub Action that fails unless a PR has changed a specific file, changed a file whose path matches a regular expression, or (optionally) has a specific label. Exactly one of `path` or `path-regex` must be set.
 
 ## Usage
 
-For example, to check that PRs either update `docs/release-notes.md` or set the `skip-notes` label:
+### Exact path
+
+To check that PRs either update `docs/release-notes.md` or set the `skip-notes` label:
 
 ```yaml
 name: Release notes
@@ -27,9 +29,24 @@ jobs:
         with:
           # Optional: if the PR has this label, skip the check
           override-label: skip-notes
-          # Required: path to the file we're interested in
+          # Exact path to the file we're interested in
           path: docs/release-notes.md
           # Optional: use this Personal Access Token to query GitHub
           # Default: ${{ github.token }}
           token: ${{ github.token }}
 ```
+
+### Path regular expression
+
+To accept any newly added Markdown file directly under `docs/release-notes/`:
+
+```yaml
+- name: Require a release note
+  uses: coreos/actions-lib/require-file-change@main
+  with:
+    path-regex: '^docs/release-notes/[^/]+\.md$'
+    status: added
+```
+
+`path-regex` uses jq regular expression syntax. Set either `path` or `path-regex`, but not both.
+The optional `status` input also requires the matching file to have that GitHub pull-files API status, such as `added`, `modified`, or `removed`. If `status` is omitted, files of any status match as before.
diff --git a/require-file-change/action.yml b/require-file-change/action.yml
index e954558..ad2929f 100644
--- a/require-file-change/action.yml
+++ b/require-file-change/action.yml
@@ -1,13 +1,19 @@
 name: Require file change
-description: Fail unless a specified file is changed by a PR
+description: Fail unless a specified file or matching path is changed by a PR
 
 inputs:
   override-label:
     description: Skip check if the PR has this label
     required: false
   path:
-    description: Path to file
-    required: true
+    description: Exact path to file (mutually exclusive with path-regex)
+    required: false
+  path-regex:
+    description: Regular expression matching file paths (mutually exclusive with path)
+    required: false
+  status:
+    description: Optional pull-request file status to match
+    required: false
   token:
     description: Personal access token
     required: false
@@ -15,33 +21,13 @@ inputs:
 runs:
   using: composite
   steps:
-    - name: Check for ${{ inputs.path }}
+    - name: Check for required file change
       shell: bash
-      run: |
-        set -euo pipefail
-        if [ -n "${{ inputs.override-label }}" ]; then
-            # Don't trust the label list in the event metadata, since runs
-            # can be scheduled out of order and the list might be stale.
-            label=$(curl --no-progress-meter \
-                -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
-                -H "Authorization: token ${{ inputs.token || github.token }}" \
-                "${{ github.event.pull_request.url }}" |
-                jq '.labels[] | select(.name == "${{ inputs.override-label }}")')
-            if [ -n "${label}" ]; then
-                echo "PR has ${{ inputs.override-label }} label; skipping"
-                exit 0
-            fi
-        fi
-        diffinfo=$(curl --no-progress-meter \
-            -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
-            -H "Authorization: token ${{ inputs.token || github.token }}" \
-            "https://api.github.com/repos/${{ github.repository }}/compare/${{ github.event.pull_request.base.sha }}...${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}" |
-            jq '.files[] | select(.filename == "${{ inputs.path }}")')
-        if [ -z "${diffinfo}" ]; then
-            echo "Found no changes to ${{ inputs.path }}."
-            if [ -n "${{ inputs.override-label }}" ]; then
-                echo "To ignore, add ${{ inputs.override-label }} label to PR."
-            fi
-            exit 1
-        fi
-        echo "Found change to ${{ inputs.path }}."
+      env:
+        FILE_PATH: ${{ inputs.path }}
+        PATH_REGEX: ${{ inputs.path-regex }}
+        FILE_STATUS: ${{ inputs.status }}
+        OVERRIDE_LABEL: ${{ inputs.override-label }}
+        TOKEN: ${{ inputs.token || github.token }}
+        PR_URL: ${{ github.event.pull_request.url }}
+      run: "${{ github.action_path }}/check.sh"
diff --git a/require-file-change/check.sh b/require-file-change/check.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..00ac8b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/require-file-change/check.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+if [[ -n "${FILE_PATH}" && -n "${PATH_REGEX}" ]]; then
+    echo "path and path-regex are mutually exclusive." >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+if [[ -z "${FILE_PATH}" && -z "${PATH_REGEX}" ]]; then
+    echo "One of path or path-regex must be set." >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+if [[ -n "${OVERRIDE_LABEL}" ]]; then
+    # Don't trust the label list in the event metadata, since runs can be
+    # scheduled out of order and the list might be stale.
+    label=$(curl --fail --no-progress-meter \
+        -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
+        -H "Authorization: token ${TOKEN}" \
+        "${PR_URL}" |
+        jq --arg override_label "${OVERRIDE_LABEL}" \
+            '.labels[] | select(.name == $override_label)')
+    if [[ -n "${label}" ]]; then
+        echo "PR has ${OVERRIDE_LABEL} label; skipping"
+        exit 0
+    fi
+fi
+
+if [[ -n "${FILE_PATH}" ]]; then
+    description="${FILE_PATH}"
+else
+    description="paths matching ${PATH_REGEX}"
+fi
+if [[ -n "${FILE_STATUS}" ]]; then
+    description="${description} with status ${FILE_STATUS}"
+fi
+
+page=1
+while true; do
+    files=$(curl --fail --no-progress-meter \
+        -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
+        -H "Authorization: token ${TOKEN}" \
+        "${PR_URL}/files?per_page=100&page=${page}")
+
+    if [[ -n "${FILE_PATH}" ]]; then
+        diffinfo=$(jq --arg path "${FILE_PATH}" --arg status "${FILE_STATUS}" \
+            '.[] | select(.filename == $path and ($status == "" or .status == $status))' \
+            <<< "${files}")
+    else
+        diffinfo=$(jq --arg path_regex "${PATH_REGEX}" --arg status "${FILE_STATUS}" \
+            '.[] | select((.filename | test($path_regex)) and
+                ($status == "" or .status == $status))' <<< "${files}")
+    fi
+
+    if [[ -n "${diffinfo}" ]]; then
+        echo "Found change to ${description}."
+        exit 0
+    fi
+
+    file_count=$(jq 'length' <<< "${files}")
+    if (( file_count < 100 )); then
+        break
+    fi
+    ((page += 1))
+done
+
+echo "Found no changes to ${description}." >&2
+if [[ -n "${OVERRIDE_LABEL}" ]]; then
+    echo "To ignore, add ${OVERRIDE_LABEL} label to PR." >&2
+fi
+exit 1
diff --git a/require-file-change/test.sh b/require-file-change/test.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..1afb948
--- /dev/null
+++ b/require-file-change/test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+action_dir=$(dirname "$(readlink -f "$0")")
+tmpdir=$(mktemp -d)
+trap 'rm -rf "${tmpdir}"' EXIT
+
+cat > "${tmpdir}/curl" <<'EOF'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+url="${!#}"
+case "${url}" in
+    https://api.example.test/pulls/1)
+        jq -n --arg label "${MOCK_LABEL:-}" \
+            '{labels: (if $label == "" then [] else [{name: $label}] end)}'
+        ;;
+    'https://api.example.test/pulls/1/files?per_page=100&page=1')
+        jq -n '[
+            {filename: "docs/release-notes.md", status: "modified"},
+            {filename: "docs/release-notes/modified-note.md", status: "modified"},
+            {filename: "docs/\" | error(\"injected\") | \".md", status: "modified"}
+        ] + [range(97) | {filename: ("filler/" + tostring), status: "modified"}]'
+        ;;
+    'https://api.example.test/pulls/1/files?per_page=100&page=2')
+        jq -n '[
+            {filename: "docs/page-two.md", status: "added"},
+            {filename: "docs/release-notes/added-note.md", status: "added"},
+            {filename: "notes/v1.2.3.md", status: "modified"}
+        ]'
+        ;;
+    *)
+        echo "Unexpected URL: ${url}" >&2
+        exit 22
+        ;;
+esac
+EOF
+chmod +x "${tmpdir}/curl"
+
+run_check() {
+    env \
+        PATH="${tmpdir}:${PATH}" \
+        FILE_PATH="${FILE_PATH:-}" \
+        PATH_REGEX="${PATH_REGEX:-}" \
+        FILE_STATUS="${FILE_STATUS:-}" \
+        OVERRIDE_LABEL="${OVERRIDE_LABEL:-}" \
+        TOKEN=test-token \
+        PR_URL=https://api.example.test/pulls/1 \
+        MOCK_LABEL="${MOCK_LABEL:-}" \
+        "${action_dir}/check.sh"
+}
+
+expect_success() {
+    if ! "$@"; then
+        echo "Expected success: $*" >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+}
+
+expect_failure() {
+    if "$@"; then
+        echo "Expected failure: $*" >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+}
+
+expect_failure_message() {
+    expected=$1
+    shift
+    if output=$("$@" 2>&1); then
+        echo "Expected failure: $*" >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    if [[ "${output}" != *"${expected}"* ]]; then
+        echo "Expected failure output to contain: ${expected}" >&2
+        echo "Actual output: ${output}" >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+}
+
+FILE_PATH=docs/release-notes.md PATH_REGEX= expect_success run_check
+FILE_PATH='docs/" | error("injected") | ".md' PATH_REGEX= expect_success run_check
+FILE_PATH=docs/page-two.md PATH_REGEX= expect_success run_check
+FILE_PATH= PATH_REGEX='^notes/v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.md$' expect_success run_check
+FILE_PATH=docs/page-two.md PATH_REGEX= FILE_STATUS=added expect_success run_check
+FILE_PATH=docs/release-notes.md PATH_REGEX= FILE_STATUS=added \
+    expect_failure_message \
+        'Found no changes to docs/release-notes.md with status added.' run_check
+FILE_PATH= PATH_REGEX='^docs/release-notes/[^/]+\.md$' FILE_STATUS=added \
+    expect_success run_check
+FILE_PATH= PATH_REGEX='^docs/release-notes/modified-[^/]+\.md$' FILE_STATUS=added \
+    expect_failure_message \
+        'Found no changes to paths matching ^docs/release-notes/modified-[^/]+\.md$ with status added.' \
+        run_check
+FILE_PATH=missing.md PATH_REGEX= \
+    expect_failure_message 'Found no changes to missing.md.' run_check
+FILE_PATH= PATH_REGEX='^changelog/' expect_failure run_check
+FILE_PATH= PATH_REGEX= \
+    expect_failure_message 'One of path or path-regex must be set.' run_check
+FILE_PATH=docs/release-notes.md PATH_REGEX='.*' \
+    expect_failure_message 'path and path-regex are mutually exclusive.' run_check
+FILE_PATH=missing.md PATH_REGEX= OVERRIDE_LABEL=skip-notes MOCK_LABEL=skip-notes \
+    expect_success run_check
+
+echo "require-file-change tests passed"