diff --git a/docs/configuration.rst b/docs/configuration.rst
index 78e20d183..aa904dc9d 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.rst
+++ b/docs/configuration.rst
@@ -1347,7 +1347,8 @@ The regular expression generated from the ``version_variables`` definition will:
 
 2. The variable name defined by ``variable`` and the version must be separated by
    an operand symbol (``=``, ``:``, ``:=``, or ``@``). Whitespace is optional around
-   the symbol.
+   the symbol. As of $NEW_VERSION, a double-equals (``==``) operator is also supported
+   as a valid operand symbol.
 
 3. The value of the variable must match a `SemVer`_ regular expression and can be
    enclosed by single (``'``) or double (``"``) quotation marks but they must match. However,
@@ -1400,6 +1401,9 @@ will be matched and replaced by the new version:
     # Custom Tag Format with tag_format set (monorepos)
     __release__ = "module-v1.2.3"
 
+    # requirements.txt
+    my-package == 1.2.3
+
 .. important::
     The Regular Expression expects a version value to exist in the file to be replaced.
     It cannot be an empty string or a non-semver compliant string. If this is the very
diff --git a/src/semantic_release/version/declarations/pattern.py b/src/semantic_release/version/declarations/pattern.py
index 55873ce0a..e96234117 100644
--- a/src/semantic_release/version/declarations/pattern.py
+++ b/src/semantic_release/version/declarations/pattern.py
@@ -230,9 +230,9 @@ def from_string_definition(
                 # Supports optional matching quotations around variable name
                 # Negative lookbehind to ensure we don't match part of a variable name
                 f"""(?x)(?P<quote1>['"])?(?<![\\w.-]){regex_escape(variable)}(?P=quote1)?""",
-                # Supports walrus, equals sign, colon, or @ as assignment operator
+                # Supports walrus, equals sign, double-equals, colon, or @ as assignment operator
                 # ignoring whitespace separation
-                r"\s*(:=|[:=@])\s*",
+                r"\s*(:=|==|[:=@])\s*",
                 # Supports optional matching quotations around a version pattern (tag or raw format)
                 f"""(?P<quote2>['"])?{value_replace_pattern_str}(?P=quote2)?""",
             ],
diff --git a/tests/unit/semantic_release/version/declarations/test_pattern_declaration.py b/tests/unit/semantic_release/version/declarations/test_pattern_declaration.py
index fd7cb7dad..8280e95bb 100644
--- a/tests/unit/semantic_release/version/declarations/test_pattern_declaration.py
+++ b/tests/unit/semantic_release/version/declarations/test_pattern_declaration.py
@@ -165,6 +165,15 @@ def test_pattern_declaration_is_version_replacer():
                 """if version := '1.0.0': """,
                 f"""if version := '{next_version}': """,
             ),
+            (
+                "Explicit number format for requirements.txt file with double equals",
+                f"{test_file}:my-package:{VersionStampType.NUMBER_FORMAT.value}",
+                # irrelevant for this case
+                lazy_fixture(default_tag_format_str.__name__),
+                # Uses double equals separator
+                """my-package == 1.0.0""",
+                f"""my-package == {next_version}""",
+            ),
             (
                 "Using default number format for multi-line & quoted json",
                 f"{test_file}:version:{VersionStampType.NUMBER_FORMAT.value}",