diff --git a/contrib/source-control-tools/automated-commits.sh b/contrib/source-control-tools/automated-commits.sh
--- a/contrib/source-control-tools/automated-commits.sh
+++ b/contrib/source-control-tools/automated-commits.sh
@@ -234,17 +234,6 @@
     git commit -m "${BOT_PREFIX} Update manpages"
     ;;
 
-  update-seeds)
-    TEAMCITY_DIR="${TOPLEVEL}"/contrib/teamcity
-    "${TEAMCITY_DIR}"/build-configurations.py --config "${TEAMCITY_DIR}"/automated-commits.yml "${COMMIT_TYPE}"
-
-    git add "${TOPLEVEL}"/contrib/seeds/nodes_main.txt
-    git add "${TOPLEVEL}"/contrib/seeds/nodes_test.txt
-    git add "${TOPLEVEL}"/src/chainparamsseeds.h
-
-    git commit -m "${BOT_PREFIX} Update seeds"
-    ;;
-
   update-timings)
     "${DEVTOOLS_DIR}"/build_cmake.sh
     pushd "${BUILD_DIR}"
@@ -278,9 +267,18 @@
     ;;
 
   *)
-    echo "Error: Invalid commit name '${COMMIT_TYPE}'"
-    exit 10
+    TEAMCITY_DIR="${TOPLEVEL}"/contrib/teamcity
+    "${TEAMCITY_DIR}"/build-configurations.py --config "${TEAMCITY_DIR}"/automated-commits.yml "${COMMIT_TYPE}"
+
+    # If there is no change, we're done.
+    if [ -z "$(git status --porcelain)" ]; then
+      echo "There is nothing to commit because no changes were made."
+      exit 0
+    fi
+
+    "${TOPLEVEL}"/contrib/source-control-tools/prepare-commit.py "${COMMIT_TYPE}"
     ;;
+
 esac
 
 # Smoke tests to give some confidence that master won't be put into a bad state
diff --git a/contrib/source-control-tools/prepare-commit.py b/contrib/source-control-tools/prepare-commit.py
new file mode 100755
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/source-control-tools/prepare-commit.py
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2020 The Bitcoin developers
+# Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
+# file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
+
+import argparse
+import os
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import yaml
+
+
+def prepare_commit(toplevel, config_path, build_name):
+    with open(config_path, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as config_file:
+        # Load configuration file
+        builds = yaml.safe_load(config_file).get('builds')
+        if not builds:
+            return (
+                1, "Error: Configuration file missing expected 'builds' at the top level")
+
+        config = builds.get(build_name)
+        if not config:
+            return (2, "Error: Configuration file does not have a build named '{}'".format(
+                build_name))
+
+        # Stage specified files
+        commit_files = config.get('commit_files', [])
+        subprocess.run(['git', 'add'] + [os.path.join(toplevel, f)
+                                         for f in commit_files], check=True)
+
+        # Get the commit message associated with this build
+        commit_message = config.get('commit_message')
+        if not commit_message:
+            return (
+                10, "Error: Expected commit_message in '{}' config".format(build_name))
+
+        # Commit the staged files
+        subprocess.run(
+            ['git', 'commit', '-m', '[Automated] {}'.format(commit_message)], check=True)
+
+        return (0, "Finished preparing commit")
+
+
+def main():
+    toplevel = subprocess.check_output(
+        ['git', 'rev-parse', '--show-toplevel']).rstrip().decode('utf-8')
+    default_config_path = os.path.join(
+        toplevel, 'contrib/teamcity/automated-commits.yml')
+
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
+        description="Prepare a git commit based on some config")
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "build_name",
+        help="The name of the build to fetch the commit information from"
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--config",
+        "-c",
+        default=default_config_path,
+        help="Path to the configuration file (default: {})".format(
+            default_config_path)
+    )
+
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+    return_code, message = prepare_commit(
+        toplevel, args.config, args.build_name)
+    print(message)
+    sys.exit(return_code)
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    main()
diff --git a/contrib/teamcity/automated-commits.yml b/contrib/teamcity/automated-commits.yml
--- a/contrib/teamcity/automated-commits.yml
+++ b/contrib/teamcity/automated-commits.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 ---
 builds:
   update-seeds:
+    commit_files:
+      - contrib/seeds/nodes_main.txt
+      - contrib/seeds/nodes_test.txt
+      - src/chainparamsseeds.h
+    commit_message: "Update seeds"
     targets:
       - - bitcoind
         - bitcoin-cli