Ion acceleration in laser-produced dense plasmas is a key topic of many recent investigations thanks to its potential applications. Indeed, at forthcoming laser intensities (I ≳ 1023 W cm−2) interaction of laser pulses with plasmas can be accompanied by copious gamma-ray emission. Here we demonstrate the mutual influence of gamma-ray emission and ion acceleration during relativistic hole boring in high-density plasmas with ultra-intense laser pulses. If the gamma-ray emission is abundant, laser pulse reflection and hole-boring velocity are lower and gamma-ray radiation pattern is narrower than in the case of low emission. Conservation of energy and momentum allows one to elucidate the effects of the gamma-ray emission which are more pronounced at higher hole-boring velocities.