diff --git a/AUTHORS.rst b/AUTHORS.rst
index 9a8224dc7da..4b8f48fcb1e 100644
--- a/AUTHORS.rst
+++ b/AUTHORS.rst
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ The following organizations or individuals have contributed to ScanCode:
 - Hanif Ali @hanif-ali
 - Horie Issei @is2ei
 - James Ward @jamesward
+- Jatin Pandey @satiricalguru
 - Jelmer Vernooij @jelmer
 - Jens Keim @pepper-jk
 - Kunal Chhabra @kunalchhabra37
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index abc3ae41ad2..b22120495bd 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ Changelog
 Next release
 --------------
 
+- Recognize GNU GPL v2 release notices without reporting unrelated composite licenses.
+  https://github.com/aboutcode-org/scancode-toolkit/issues/4942
+
 - Fix the optional ``licenses`` extra dependency typo to install
   ``licensedcode-data``.
   https://github.com/aboutcode-org/scancode-toolkit/pull/5056
diff --git a/src/licensedcode/data/rules/gpl-2.0_1487.RULE b/src/licensedcode/data/rules/gpl-2.0_1487.RULE
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..84c1b527b9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/licensedcode/data/rules/gpl-2.0_1487.RULE
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+---
+license_expression: gpl-2.0
+is_license_notice: yes
+relevance: 100
+notes: Rule found in test.cpp and tmp.cpp (#4942)
+---
+
+released under GNU GPL v2 only license
diff --git a/src/licensedcode/data/rules/gpl-2.0_1488.RULE b/src/licensedcode/data/rules/gpl-2.0_1488.RULE
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..5ff7b16a749
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/licensedcode/data/rules/gpl-2.0_1488.RULE
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+---
+license_expression: gpl-2.0
+is_license_notice: yes
+relevance: 100
+notes: Rule found in test.cpp and tmp.cpp (#4942)
+---
+
+released under GNU GPL v2 license
diff --git a/tests/licensedcode/test_match_hash.py b/tests/licensedcode/test_match_hash.py
index a56fa2e8e70..3e3c94bd7b5 100644
--- a/tests/licensedcode/test_match_hash.py
+++ b/tests/licensedcode/test_match_hash.py
@@ -50,3 +50,22 @@ def test_match_hash_returns_correct_offset(self):
         assert match.rule == rules[0]
         assert match.qspan == Span(0, 119)
         assert match.ispan == Span(0, 119)
+
+    def test_issue_4942_gpl_2_0_release_notices(self):
+        # Reproduces issue #4942
+        from licensedcode.cache import get_index
+        idx = get_index()
+
+        queries = [
+            "* released under GNU GPL v2 only licence",
+            "* released under GNU GPL v2 licence",
+            "* released under GNU GPL v2 only license",
+            "* released under GNU GPL v2 license",
+        ]
+        for q in queries:
+            matches = idx.match(query_string=q)
+            assert len(matches) == 1, f"Failed on {q}: {matches}"
+            m = matches[0]
+            assert m.rule.license_expression == "gpl-2.0", f"Wrong license on {q}: {m.rule.license_expression}"
+            assert m.matcher == match_hash.MATCH_HASH, f"Not a hash match on {q}: {m.matcher}"
+            assert m.coverage() == 100